Quicksand
by Jettrooper12
Summary: -First place in Best Angst/Tragedy and Best Donatello Scene- Trapped in darkness, no one can hear you, no one can see you, no one knows where you are. The cold lingers, the fear rises, who will help us? Who even knows we are down here? The only people who might know are probably dead. Help us, someone please help..
1. Chapter 1

_**Only two stories in the making?**_

_**Feels weird for me, so here comes some new stories**_

_**Including a sequel!**_

_**So enough talking and lets get this show on the road!**_

_**This story i don't foresee being really long, probably ten chapters or less**_

_**But yeah**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**I don't own TMNT**_

* * *

><p>Chapter 1<p>

Mikey shifted positions on the couch before flipping the page, he read the first strip, feeling more and more bored. He sighed, closed the comic book and tossed it on the cushion. He stood up and looked around the lair, wondering where Don could be. Last time he saw them was right before Leo, Raph and Splinter left on patrol, Mikey and Don were going to go later on in the evening, Leo and Raph wanted all of them to go with but Don wasn't feeling well and Mikey thought It would be better if he stayed with Don, so he wasn't alone. But know he can't find him, maybe he's in lab.

Mikey walked toward his lab and peeked inside, seeing an empty chair. Mikey turned his head in confusion, where could Don be?

He looked behind him and checked in the kitchen, empty. He couldn't have gone upstairs, wouldn't be in the dojo. Then he heard a noise that answered his question, the shower head running.

Mikey giggled and walked back to the couch and flipped the TV on. The news was calling for perfect weather tonight, good. Mikey flipped the channel to a cartoon channel and watched for a second. The little pink dog was running around trying to convince people that there was a monster outside.

"I want a talking dog" Mikey said to himself, "How awesome would that be"

He sighed and flipped the channel, it was a court show. Something about someone hitting their car and then taking off. Mikey hated these shows, it was nothing but paid actors reading off of scripts, stupid fake shows.

Mikey pressed the channel up button, but nothing happened. He looked at the remote and tried again, still nothing. He turned it around, opened the battery compartment and took the batteries out. Examining them, he grunted and stood up, placing the batteries on the coffee table and walked to the bathroom door, opening it slightly.

"Donnie!" Mikey said

"What?" Don answered

"Where are the batteries?" Mikey asked

"Umm…Check my desk, middle drawer" Don responded

Mikey closed the door and set the remote on the table as he passed it. He walked into Don's lab and toward his desk. Opening the middle drawer, he saw the box of batteries lying inside. He grabbed two and closed the drawer, walking out of the lab.

He sat back down and replaced the batteries. He pressed the channel up button and the channel switched. He smiled and flipped it again. Then he felt the lair begin to shake very lightly. 'Stupid Train' He thought.

After a couple minutes the shaking didn't stop, in fact, it slowly got harder. Mikey looked around and saw things start to fall over.

"What the?" Mikey said

Then all of a sudden the shaking got massive, Mikey grabbed onto the couch and looked around, frightened. He saw the books from the book case drop out onto the floor, his snow glob that he found fell and burst into pieces. Everything got hectic, things fell, things broke, and the shaking only got worse. He looked up and saw the light above his shake unnaturally, his heart jumped as he saw the light begin to fall toward him.

He jumped out of the way and heard the glass shatter as it hit the ground. Mikey lifted himself up only to fall over again, not being able to keep his balance. Then his fears got worse as he saw cracks begin to form in the ceiling.

"No!" Mikey shouted as a chunk on brick fell from the ceiling and smashed into the ground. Mikey didn't know what to do, he just sat there and watched the entire lair quickly get trashed. He looked over and saw the TV uneasily teetering, then hitting the ground, causing a large spark of white, Mikey covered his mouth as he leaned up against the wall, unknowing of what to do. And the shaking just kept going and going.

He saw the bathroom door swing open fast and Don ran out. "MIKEY!" He shouted, running toward him.

"Don!" Mikey said as Don wrapped his arms around him and protected him from falling chunks of the brick.

"What's going on?" Mikey shouted

"Earthquake!" Don shouted back

Mikey and Don both hung on to each other as the shaking got worse, to the point where they couldn't even hold themselves up. They both fell to the ground and stayed close to the wall.

"What do we do?" Mikey asked, feeling his fear rose higher and higher

Don tried to think of something that they could do, he read somewhere that you needed to get under a table or something. "Come on!" Don shouted as he grabbed Mikey's hand and helped him up. They both moved as fast as they could toward the kitchen, it was harder than they thought. The terrible shaking kept making them lose their balance.

They grabbed the kitchen doorway and pulled themselves in. "Mikey get under the table" Don shouted. Mikey nodded, got to the floor and crawled under the table. He grabbed one of the legs and stayed under the table.

Don grabbed the doorway and looked under the table, not seeing room for him anywhere. "Shit!" Don shouted

"Don what about you?" Mikey has to scream over the loud noise

Don looked around, "Just stay there, I'll go find somewhere else"

"Don no! Don't leave me!" Mikey pleaded

"I'll be fine Mikey, just stay there and don't come out until I come and get you" Don said

Mikey looked at him, and then nodded. He felt his fear get higher as Don disappeared from sight. He looked around franticly, feeling hopeless as the lair just gets worse. The shaking didn't stop, it just got worse and worse.

Mikey clenched his eyes shut and wished for it all to stop. Then the sound of a large chuck wall slamming to the ground made Mikey jump and yelp.

"DON!" He yelled

There was no response, which made Mikey fear even more to the point of tears falling out of his eyes.

"DONNIE!" he shouted again

Still no response, then the lights went out and the shaking didn't stop. Mikey felt as if his skin were being torn inside out. He pulled his knee's in close and buried his face, trying to refrain himself from having a panic attack.

He clenched his teeth and tried to imagine himself in a better place. But the shaking wasn't helping. More and more loud noises entered Mikey's ears. He threw his hands up to his ears and held them tightly against his head. Only muffling the noise slightly.

He pressed them tighter and opened his eyes, seeing nothing but pure darkness. Then it all got abruptly silent, the shaking stopped, the darkness remained, the silence was threatening. Mikey slowly uncovered his ears and remained quiet.

"Don?" He said silently

There was no response.

He grabbed onto the table and slid himself out from underneath it. He pushed himself to his feet and supported himself with the table. Standing in the darkness, he felt an odd feeling, he couldn't explain it but something felt wrong.

He began to walk, sticking his hands out in front of him to feel around for the doorway. Once he grabbed it, he stepped out of the kitchen and into the main room. He couldn't see a thing, he felt around for the couch, but he jerked his leg back after feeling a sharp pain in his foot. He placed his hand on the wall and used his other hand to find whatever he stepped on. After rubbing his foot, he felt a large glass shard stuck in his foot.

He exhaled in pain and grabbed the shard, feeling move inside of him, clenched his teeth, and then quickly pulled it out. Yelping in pain.

He dropped the glass and heard it break as it hit the ground. "Don!" He tried again. But still no response, he tried to focus his vision in the darkness, but it didn't work, it was too dark to see anything. Then a small noise made him jump.

"Mikey" He heard Don say in a small voice

"Don! Don where are you?" Mikey asked

"Over here" his voice was small, like he was having trouble talking

Mikey turned around in the darkness, "Yeah that helps me"

It was silent for a second, "Keep talking" Don said

Mikey turn his head in confusion, "What?"

"Just keep talking and I'll find you eventually" Don said

"Umm…Well ok…What should I talk about?" Mikey asked

Mikey heard movement near him, he extended his arm and felt his hand bump into something, felt like a mouth.

"Ouch" Don said

"Sorry, didn't mean to punch you" Mikey said trying to hold in the giggle

He felt Don's hand wrap around his arm and pull him closer, "Ok good, at least we found each other" Don said

"What are we going to do now" Mikey asked worried

Don was quiet for a second.

"Don?"

"I'm thinking" Don said

He let go of Mikey's arm, "Don!"

"Don't worry, I'm right here" Don said, his voice was getting farther away

"What are you doing?" Mikey asked

Don didn't respond, he heard footsteps and sweeping sounds, Mikey squinted his eyes to try and get at least a peek at something, but it was no luck.

"Shit…You've got to be kidding" Don said, "This can't be happening"

"What?" Mikey asked quickly, his heart began to race in worry

"Do you have your shell cell?" He heard Don ask

"Umm" Mikey fumbled through his belt and pulled out his shell cell, "Yeah"

"Turn it on and let me see it" Don said

Mikey flipped it open and the small light hit his face, making him squint his eyes. He shined the small light in front of him, it made little difference. He saw Don's silhouette looking away from him and began to walk toward him, but then stopped when he felt a something wet rub against his skin. He shined the light down and saw a small blood puddle. Was it from his foot?

He jumped when he looked up and saw Don standing in front of him Don came into the light. He took the phone and Mikey saw the light go farther from him. He quickly followed the light and stopped near Don's silhouette.

"Mikey look at this" Don said, holding the phone up toward the wall, revealing a large chuck of the ceiling that covered up most of the wall.

"So?" Mikey said

Don sighed, giving the phone to Mikey, "Look where it is" Don said

Mikey took the phone and held it up to the wall near the rock, seeing the broken sign 'Lair sweet Lair'. Mikey felt a lump in his throat.

"No" He said softly, walking past Don and looking on the other wall, seeing the brick wall with one brick that was broken.

"Oh my god" Mikey whispered, "It's blocking the lair door Don…It's in front of the god damn door"

"I know Mikey" Don said softly

"You know! Don what the hell we are going to do!" Mikey shouted

"I don't know but shouting isn't going to help" Don said calmly

Mikey took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts, the lair is drowned out in darkness, the lair door is blocked by a large boulder, and his brothers were up ground.

His brothers.

"Don what about Leo and Raph!" Mikey shouted again

"Would you stop shouting, it's not helping my headache" Don said in a rough voice

"Don! Leo and Raph are still up there" Mikey shouted

"Mikey you're telling me things I already know" Don said

"Well if you're such a genius then what are you going to do about it?" Mikey continued to shout

"I don't know Mikey! I'm just as scared as you are! So stop screaming at me and just calm down!" Don shouted

Mikey stopped talking, he felt a tear begin to form. He inhaled sharply and wiped it away. Then he felt Don grab him and wrap his arms around him, "I'm sorry, please don't cry" Don said softly, taking the phone out of Mikey's hands and closing it shut.

"I'm not crying…It's just" Mikey couldn't think, thoughts were speeding through his head to the point of pain. "I'm scared" Mikey said softly

Don closed his eyes, feeling his heart being squeezed, "I am too Mikey"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Good news!**_

_**I'm not alone one this one!**_

_**Amonraphoenix has tagged along with me on this story!**_

_**So each chapter will be a little bit of me and a little bit of her!**_

_**So expect it to be twice as better!**_

_**Just want to say thank you again Amonraphoenix !**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**Don't own nothing**_

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Mikey felt Don take the cell phone out of his hand, "Are you hurt at all?" He asked in a soft voice. His voice worried Mikey.

"Don, are you OK?" Mikey asked.

"I'm fine" Don answered rather quickly, "Now are you hurt?" He asked again.

They stood in the dark, silent, finally Mikey broke the silence. "No…Just my foot" Mikey admitted reluctantly.

"What happened to your foot?" Don asked concerned, opening the cell phone and pointing the light down at his brother's foot, "Jesus Mikey what happened?" Don almost shouted.

Mikey looked down and noticed that his foot was in a puddle of blood. "Oh crap" Mikey said, lifting his foot up and revealed a nasty looking gash that was still bleeding profusely.

Don grabbed Mikey's shoulder and pointed the light in front of him so he can see where they were going. They soon made it to the couch and Don helped Mikey sit down, raising his foot up.

"Don't move, I'm going to go get something to wrap that thing up with." Don said, Mikey saw Don's silhouette leave him and walk into the lab. Mikey sighed as the darkness crawled back to him. He heard some echoes in the lab. Then saw as the small light turned off.

"Don?" Mikey asked worriedly.

"I'm right here Mikey" He sounded close, "I don't want to let the battery run out"

"But what are we going to do about light?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know Mikey, we're just going to have to get use to the dark," Don muttered.

Those words haunted Mikey, getting use to the dark? That was like telling him to go make friends with the Shredder. Mikey and the dark were not friends, Mikey's hated the dark, ever since he was a kid. And he wasn't so keen on becoming friends now.

At that moment, he jumped when he felt a hand sweep against his shoulder. "There you are," Don said, placing his whole hand on his shoulder. He felt Don's hand move down his arm and jump to his leg, slowly moving down.

"Uhh Don, now's not the time." Mikey said impishly, he couldn't help it.

"Shut up, knucklehead." Don said sternly, his hand made it down to Mikey's foot. Then a small light appeared and made Mikey squint his eyes against the sudden brightness.

"Damn Mikey, what did you do?" Don hissed softly.

"I stepped on a shard of glass," Mikey said.

"It looks like when you ripped it out, you made the tear in your skin worse." Don said, "Here." He handed the phone to Mikey.

"Why can't you hold it?" Mikey whined.

"That's not important, now hold it over here so I can see what I'm doing." Don ordered.

Mikey held the phone while Don began to wrap his foot. Mikey cringed as it sent small pains into his system.

He took a deep breath, "I know this may be the best things to say, but-"

He saw Don stop wrapping his foot and his eyes shot up at him. Fear and concern flashing through his chocolate eyes.

"I have to pee." Mikey said quickly, noticing his brother's reaction.

Don exhaled with relief, "I thought it was something worse."

"Wait is the toilet damaged?" Mikey asked.

"No" He stuck a pin into the foot wrap bandage, making it stick together. Then he patted Mikey's foot, "Wait a sec" He stammered as he stood up and used the cell light to guide himself to the bathroom. Once he stepped inside, he opened the toilet seat and knelt down near it.

Mikey watched him for a second, then leaned back on the couch, staring up at the murky dark, letting his imagination get the best of him. As he stared up in the darkness, something started to form, he saw the outline of a large circle, two eyes' popping out of the skull. Then its mouth opened, revealing large sharp teeth. The frightening monster drew closer and closer to Mikey. His stomach knotted and he closed his eyes. Hoping it was the darkness playing tricks on him.

"Mikey?"

Mikey jerked his eyes open and twisted his head toward Don, "Yeah" He responded with a squeak in his voice

"Bad news" Don almost mumbled.

"What?" Mikey asked

"The fixture gasket in the toilet broke and is blocking the water flow," Don said intelligently.

Mikey took the words into process, "English please"

Don sighed, "Usually if the water is turned off the toilet would still flush if there's enough water in it."

"Ok" Mikey softly responded

"But the fixture gasket is broken, it's what usually helps the water flow, but since it's broken, it's blocking the water flow," Don said touchily

Mikey thought about that, "So if we went to the bathroom, it wouldn't go anywhere?".

Don nodded his head.

"So it would just sit there?" Mikey asked disgustedly.

"Pretty much" Don answered. He got up and sat down next to Mikey, "Screw that I'm holding it." Mikey responded.

"Just go, I don't for see us staying like this for much longer." Don said.

"Fine," Mikey muttered and stood up, taking the phone out of Don's hand and guiding himself to the bathroom.

"Careful of the glass." He heard Don shout.

"I know," Mikey said to him.

He entered the bathroom, "Hey Don! Where are all the flashlights?"

"I don't know Mikey, why don't you tell me?" Don's voice sounded odd, then Mikey remembered, "Oh yeah."  
>Every time Mikey would have a nightmare and be too afraid to ask his brothers for comfort, he would sneak downstairs and grab a flashlight and keep it on in his room. Until they all started overheating and not work. So they just decided to stop with the flashlights.<p>

"Sorry," Mikey said as he finished his business.

"I knew it was going to come and bite us in the ass later," Don grumbled.

Mikey sighed, "So…What are we supposed to do now?" Mikey asked, flipping the phone off, being embraced by inky darkness once again.

"I don't know," Don sounded tired.

"When do you think Leo and Raph will find us?" Mikey asked quietly.

"Again, I don't know," Don said slightly annoyed by Mikey's constant questions.

Mikey sighed and stared to pace, "Don?"

There was a moment of silence, "What?" Donnie growled.

Mikey took a deep breath and ignored his brother's tone of voice, "How long are we going to be down here?" There was a point after he said that when he felt his heart drop for some reason.

"A couple hours, two days tops" Don responded tiredly, Mikey couldn't imagine being stuck down here for days in the darkness. "That can't be. Watch, they'll get Leatherhead and their human friends and we'll get out of here in no time," Mikey said, only trying to calm himself down.

Don didn't responded, he heard him breathing, but it wasn't enough. "Don?"

"What" Don snapped, sounding extremely agitated.

"I just…I don't know what else to do, I'm bored, I just want to talk." Mikey said innocently.

"Then talk," Don sighed irritability.

"Well what should I talk about?" Mikey asked.

"I don't know…Just talk." Don said in irritation.

Mikey thought about it, then smiled, "Well…Have you ever dreamt about being a superhero." Mikey asked as he sat down next to him. "If I could have any power in the world, it would be flight. Because…With flight…You'd feel so free, I would up in the sky, soaring through the clouds. Flying away from…I don't know…Everything. Just go and fly, probably never come down. I would feel so free." Mikey smiled dreamily.

There was a long moment of silence, "Jeez it's cold in here," Mikey noticed all of a sudden.

"There's no power so the heaters knocked out," Don said roughly.

"Like that one time, remember when the heater was broken and you couldn't fix it. It was freezing down here." Mikey recalled the frigid memory with a slight shudder.

"Well it's going to happen again." Don said, sniffing, "and it'll be much worst then last time. We're in the middle of winter this time, not early fall like last time.

"I hope we don't freeze to death," Mikey said gloomily.

Don didn't respond to his desperate baby brother. Mikey turned his head toward him and stared in the darkness, he pulled out his cell and flipped it open, pointing the beam at him. Donnie's eyes were closed and he lay against the back of the couch unmoving. He was still breathing, but probably just resting at least that was what Mikey was hoping for, but as he looked closer at his brother, dread crawled into his heart. He really doesn't look too good, Mikey thought as he placed his hand gently on Don's forehead, feeling the warmth that engulfed his whole hand.

"Damn Don" Mikey said with a groan, he's probably getting a fever, "Not a good time, bro."

He closed the phone and leaned back on the couch and sighed, turning his head toward the direction of the door, seeing nothing but black.

"Come on guys," He said softly.

He pulled out his cell and flipped it open, squinting at the light, he looked at the time. It was only 5:00 PM. Mikey sighed and shut the cell. His worry kicked back in when he felt his stomach growl with hunger. He looked at Don, and then stood up, using the cell light to guide him into the kitchen. He stopped in front of the cabinet and opened it, revealing an almost empty cupboard.

"Great," He said.

How could this situation get any worse? It was slowly getting colder and colder, we can't get out, and there's almost no food. He closed the cabinet quietly and walked to the fridge, expecting to open it and see it fill with light. But it was dark inside, which felt weird for him.

"That's not good," He heard Don's voice fill the kitchen.

Mikey jumped, startled by his brothers sudden appearance. He began to turn around, and then remembered that he wouldn't be able to see him anyways. "The food we have in there is going to get bad without the cold," Don said.

"I thought you we're sleeping," Mikey said.

Mikey felt Don's hand brush against his arm, Don grabbed his shoulder and took the cell, closing it.

"We need to keep save the battery as much as we can." Don said, "Don't worry about the food, we have at least a week's worth in storage."

Mikey heard Don's footsteps lead off, "You're sick." Mikey called after him.

"Thanks captain obvious," Don said gruffly, trying to hide a cough.

Now Mikey understood why Don wasn't being himself, he was more stressed when he was sick, and with this whole situation, he's probably full of stress.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me," Don said.

Mikey heard Don's footsteps lead to main room and to sit back on the couch, Mikey stood in the darkness for a moment, hoping this whole situation was a nightmare that he'll wake up from and everything would be back to normal.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mikey stuck out his hands and slowly made his way to Don, finding the only hint of comfort near him. He stubbed his toe on the doorway, yelping slightly.

"You OK?" Don asked quickly.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine" Mikey answered just as quick, he felt his toe begin to quickly throb. He sighed and found the couch, feeling Don sit down beside him.

"How are you feeling?" Mikey asked worried.

"Don't worry about me," Don said.

"Don't tell me to not worry about you Don. You're sick and I don't need you passing out on me," Mikey almost shouted.

"Mikey…Please…I'm not in the mood," Don bit out with a tired sigh.

Mikey exhaled in stress, rubbing his head. "The phone please," Mikey said holding out his hand.

"Why?" Don asked hoarsely.

"I'm going to go search the lair for any medicine or stuff that could help us," Mikey answered.

There was a dead silence in the lair as Mikey waited for Don to respond.

"Are you going to take it or what?" Don growled with impatiently.

Mikey stretched his hand and felt Don's hand with the phone inside. "You could have given me a heads up you know, I can't exactly see here." Mikey said sarcastically, grabbing the cell and flipping it open, lighting the way to the stairs.

"Don't let it run out," Don shouted after him.

"I know!" Mikey said annoyed.

He walked up the stairs, seeing the tiny pieces of rock and pebbles that rested on each step. He swept them aside as he passed. Making it to the top, he peeked into Don's room, seeing nothing but blackness. He held the phone up and it dimly lit the room's interior. He walked in looking carefully for any medicine or maybe a first aid kit.

He felt that strange feeling of stepping into someone else's room, that uneasy feeling of intruding on someone else's private life. Like I'm going to mess something up, but by the look of this room, there's not much I could do to make it more messed up then it already is. But Mikey being well Mikey, he'll find a way.

He studied the desk and opened all the drawers in search of anything that could help Don. He sighed, getting nowhere. Leo didn't have anything, which was weird. Being the leader, wouldn't he be prepared for anything? Mikey didn't know.

But Raph, he had to have something.

He told me once that he kept a secret first aid kit for the injuries he gets when he goes out for a late night run and gets hurt. Not wanting Don to look at it, as that would lead Leo to lecture him about his safety. For once, Mikey thanked Raph for not listening to Leo.

He quickly walked out of Don's room and into Raph's holding up the phone and searching for the first aid kit. He walked to the table and pulled out the drawers and searched for the hidden first aid kit. He sighed and looked around, and then a thought came to him.

He slid to the floor and looked under Raph's bed, seeing the white tin underneath. He felt his heart jump in relief, he reached under and pulled it out. Releasing the hatch, he opened it and saw a bottle of painkillers and buried under a pile of bandages and splints, a bottle of Nyquil.

"Thank you Raph," Mikey said softly as he pulled out the Nyquil and closed it up. He pushed himself up and turned to walk out the door, but then something caught his eye. He looked back at his nightstand and saw a book lying open. He looked at it for a second, then walked up to it, grabbed it and looked at the cover of the brown leather bound book.

'Journal' was written across the front in gold leaf.

'Raph keeps a journal?' Mikey thought in shock as he flipped back to the open page and saw Raph's scrawling handwriting written across the pages. There were spots on the page where it seems it was wet, but had dried up. Mikey looked at the top and read,

_Me and fearless got into another fight today, we yelled at each other, Mikey and Don kept their distance, and I got really angry. So I kicked the coffee table, causing me to fracture my toe. And out of anger Leo told me to get out. But I didn't, instead I'm sitting up here in my room, crying my eyes out and writing in this stupid journal that April gave to me. I'm thinking about taking up Leo's offer, just walking out and never coming back. I already know that I'm always the one screwing things up for this team. I'm not stupid, so why bother? Why do I still keep telling myself that everything will get better if I stay? But where would I go, April wouldn't let me stay if she knew I was running away. I would be out __on__ the streets, I would be alone__... b__ut I already am._

It felt like someone was squeezing Mikey's heart, Raph does a good job hiding his emotions from them usually, but he remembered this fight, he went up to talk to Raph afterwards. Then Mikey wondered, he flipped the page and started reading.

_So Mikey came up to my room and talked to me, he wrapped my foot__ up__ and we had a nice long talk, and I felt so comfortable around him that…I told him everything, how I wanted to run away cause I felt__ so__ alone. And he told me not to act on my feelings, to face my problems head on. And after he left, it hit me. I'm not alone… I was never alone. I have three brothers that love me and want to do nothing but protect me. And I would do anything for them, Mikey's right, for once he's__ actually __right. I'll go talk to Leo now, tell him I'm sorry for fighting with him and that he was right. I'll fill you in after I talk to Leo._

Mikey remembered every single word that was said in that talk, he flipped the page and read on.

_Well we talked, and it was the best talk I ever had __with my big brother. H__e told me that __what__ he said was out of anger and he would never want me to leave. He said that he wouldn't be the same without me, and I regret saying this but I cried, when he told me that I was __one of the reasons__ for his life, it just hit me hard. I couldn't control it, he hugged me and I hugged him back. I felt so stupid for wanting to walk out on this place, I could never walk out of this place, I love it here. __I love them. I will always love my brothers, both the good and the bad._

Mikey smiled and sighed, feeling homesick. Sure he had Don, but Don isn't himself, he's stressed and Mikey doesn't like Don when he's stressed.

"Mikey?" He heard Don call softly, worried that Mikey was taking so long.

Mikey closed the book and slid it back underneath Raph's bed. He grabbed the bottle and rushing out of the room. He carefully walked back down the stairs and closed the phone, knowing how to get to the couch from there.

"I found these for you," Mikey said taking a seat next to Don.

"What are they?" He asked.

"No questions." He unscrewed the Nyquil and took out a pill, "Just take this and get better." Talk about trust

He felt Don's fingers sweep his palm as he took the pill. Mikey set the bottle down and relaxed himself on the couch, hearing Don swallow the pill, he smiled. There was a frightening silence in the lair as they sat quietly.

"How much battery is left on the cell?" Don finally asked.

Mikey flipped it open and looked at the battery, "thirty five percent." Mikey answered.

"We should be fine," Don said softly.

Mikey sighed and leaned his head back, feeling suddenly exhausted.

"Mikey?" Don said softly.

"Yeah?" Mikey replied dully.

There was a hint of hesitation, "I'm sorry," Don said quietly.

Mikey's face scrunched up in confusion, "For what?"

"I know I'm not making this situation any easier. I just hate being sick…It gets me so stressed and cranky that I don't even feel like myself…I just want you to know, no matter what might happen or what I might say…I don't mean it," Don's voice broke with emotion.

Mikey smiled, "I know…Now get some sleep and hopefully this whole thing will go away when you wake up.

"Let's hope so," Don said tiredly.

Mikey smiled and looked up at the darkness. He started thinking about Leo, Raph, and Master Splinter, how where they doing. He hoped that they were alright and on their way home to help them. And Without realizing it, Mikey had slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

….

Mikey's eye's shot open, he blinked in confusion a couple times to try and fight off the darkness away, but then he remembered the darkness wasn't going anywhere. He lifted himself up and rubbed the crusties out of his eyes. He blindly felt around for the phone and grabbed it, flipping it open he looked at the time. He's been asleep for four hours. Damn.

Mikey stretched and shined the light on Don, seeing he was still deeply asleep. He looked around the lair, hoping to find Leo, Raph or Splinter.

"Hello?" He called out softly.

No one responded. He sighed in disappointment, leaning back on the couch, trying to think of something to do. He then stood up and walked to the huge rock blocking the door and shined the light on it. He looked at a crevasse and placed his hand on it. He readied himself and began to push the rock, clenching his teeth and straining his muscles to move the massive rock. He pushed as hard as he could, trying to get the rock out of the way. He felt drops of sweat break out on his skin and begin to roll down the back of his neck, as his muscles bulged with the stress and strain.

He exhaled tiredly and reluctantly stopped. He slammed his fist into the rock in anger. He thought of other ways he could move the stupid rock, then he thought about the crowbar in Don's lab. He began to walk to Donnie's lab when he remembered that Don had used the crowbar to fix a broken piece of wood in the dojo, it could still be there.

Mikey turned around and hurried to the dojo, carefully avoiding each obstacle he encountered in the dark. He slammed his shoulder hard against the doorway dojo and yelped silently. Holding his throbbing shoulder, he walked into dojo and tried to remember where he last seen the crowbar, and trying to remember the layout of the dojo from memory. He began to take small steps as he inched closer and closer into the dojo, he then felt something brush against his foot.

Out of shear curiosity, he knelt down and felt for the unknown object. He wrapped his hand around it and picked it up when he realized what it was.

A candle.

Then it hit him. He quickly rushed out of the dojo and back to the couch, running into at least three things on his way get there. He picked up the phone and flipped it open as he quickly guided himself to the garage.

After a not so long journey to the garage, He walked into the garage and looked around, spotting the hardware desk. He ran to it, and then noticed that the floor was all wet. Without thinking about it, he tried to stop, which only lead to his foot slipping and his shell hitting the ground hard. He cursed and rolled over on his stomach, feeling his whole arm get wet from the mysterious, oily liquid all over the floor. He placed his hand on the floor to lift himself up, but then felt something brush his hand.

He wrapped his hand around it and held the phone up to it.

"Yes!" Mikey said softly, looking at the soaked box of matches.

He stood up and placed the candle on the table before he opened the box of matches. He took out a single match and struck it against the side of the match box.

Nothing happened.

He sighed, took out another match and tried it again.

And once again, nothing.

He groaned and took out another match and stuck it hard against the side. He saw a brilliant flash of light and heard a whooshing sound before he felt a white hot burning pain consuming his arm in blinding agony. He looked and saw his whole arm was on fire. His eye's shot open in shock and he screamed at the top of his lungs. Seeing his whole arm on fire, he didn't know what to do.

"**DON**!" Mikey screamed, running out of the garage and into the main room.

He saw Don wake up and look at him, "**MIKEY WHAT THE HELL!**" Don screamed.

Mikey didn't respond, he just continued screaming his lungs out as his arm was consumed in a strange violet-blue fire. Don quickly stood up and quickly grabbed the blanket off of the couch. Mikey vaguely heard Don yelp in pain. Mikey would have wondered why, but he couldn't think straight from the searing pain that ravaged his body. Don ran to Mikey and covered him with the blanket and pushed Mikey to the floor fell to the floor. Donnie firmly but gentle patted down Mikey's arm. Smothering the unearthly fire out.

After a second, they returned to the darkness, he heard Mikey softly whimpering and sobbing under the blanket. Donnie took the blanket off, Mikey which caused his youngest brother to softly yelp in pain once again.

"Mikey? Are you OK?" Don asked softly, his voice filled with concern.

Mikey whimpered softly, "Don…It hurts."

"It's going to be OK Mikey. I need you to stay here while I go get something for it." Don said to his injured before he stood up.

Don quickly ran into his lab, stumbling into stuff as he ran through the lab door. Out of memory he ran to his desk and pulled opened a drawer. Searching around, he took out the burning cream and the gauze that he kept there and ran back out to Mikey. Searching around for him, he knelt down and placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder. "It's going to be ok Mikey, It's going to be ok" Don said softly


	4. Chapter 4

**_So in this chapter! _**

**_We have Me! _**

**_Amonraphoenix!_**

**_AND DarkUnderworld!_**

**_Three's a magic number!_**

**_WOOOO!_**

**_Anyway enjoy!_**

**_I do Not own TMnt...NEVER!_**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4:<p>

Mikey inhaled, he felt something touching his arm, which still hurt like hell, but not as much as it did before. He inhaled louder and tried shifting positions.

"Don't move," he heard Don's calm voice say. Mikey followed the instructions and stopped moving.

"Don…What happened?" Mikey asked.

"First, I need to ask you what you were doing in the garage." Don asked.

"I found a candle in the dojo and I was looking for matches," Mikey explained. He felt the rough bandage being tightly wrapped around his arm.

"Then how did your arm catch on fire?" Don asked.

"I don't know! I fell, found the matches, tried to light one, and when I lit it the whole box burst into flames. Then so did my arm!" Mikey confessed, his voice filled with confusion and a hint fear.

"I still don't understand, how did your arm catch on fire?" Don asked, his voice strained with worry.

"No idea! All I know is that I think it had something to do with that liquid on the ground, it was probably gasoline or something," Mikey said with a shake of his head which his brother couldn't see.

"Liquid? There was liquid on the ground!" Don exclaimed a tremor in his voice.

"Yeah! Like something spilled," Mikey explained.

"Something spilled?" Don repeated. "Hold on a sec." Mikey felt Don stand up and walk away.

"Don?" Mikey whimpered, worriedly.

"I'm right here Mikey, don't worry," Don reassured him.

Mikey sunk back into the couch and sighed. He slowly moved his arm, feeling small shots of pain course through it. He blinked in the darkness, and then wondered _'Why is Don doing this in the dark?'_

He heard Don's footsteps coming toward him. "Well it wasn't gas, if it was gas then we would have smelt it from here. It could possibly be liquid hydrogen, but I'm not sure," Don responded.

"Is my arm going to be OK?" Mikey asked, feeling a strange tingling sensation crawl up his arm.

"Yeah, it just needs time to heal," Don answered. Mikey felt Don take a seat next to him, feeling the bandages being adjusted.

"Don, why are you doing this in the dark? I mean, I know you want to save the battery of the phone, but wouldn't it be easier if you could see?" Mikey asked curiously.

Don didn't respond right away. Mikey got worried with the sudden silence of the lair.

"Don?" Mikey questioned, fear creeping into his voice.

"Mikey…" Don began slowly, "I'm not doing this in the dark. I have the phone light on right next to me." Don said roughly, his voice laced with worry.

Mikey quickly turned his head towards Donnie's voice. "What?" Mikey croaked in a terrified voice.

Don remained eerily silent. Mikey felt a puff of air blow across his face. "Don?" Mikey asked in a frightened voice.

"Mikey, please tell me you can see my hand waving in front of your face." Don said in a strained whisper.

Mikey felt a twinge of terror shoot through his heart. He lifted his hand and swept it past Don's hand. He wrapped his fingers around Don's hand and held it in front of his face.

'_I can't see it_.' He thought to himself numbly.

"Don..." Mikey swallowed down the lump of absolute terror that was crawling up his throat and trying to choke him. "Why can't I see?" Mikey asked, his voice sounding small and faraway to his own ears.

He felt Don stand up, probably pacing in front of him. "Mikey how much of that stuff did you get on your skin?" Don asked in an absolutely deadly serious tone.

"I...I... I don't know! Maybe just on my arms and little bit on my legs?" Mikey replied, his answer more a question than a certainty. Mikey swallowed again trying to keep his panic from consuming him.

"Damnit!" Don shouted. "Come here, hurry." Don said quickly.

Mikey felt Don's arm wrap around his shoulder and help him up. "Don what's going on?" He asked in worry as Don guided him to wherever Don wanted him to go. Mikey felt his toe bash into a door frame, he jerked back and yelped in pain.

"Sorry, here sit down," Don ordered firmly, but gently.

Mikey carefully sat down on what felt like a wooden stool. "Don, please tell me what's going on!" Mikey said a note of questioning agony in his voice.

He felt something cold and wet touch his leg. "Mikey, I'm pretty sure you fell into methyl hydrate."

"What is that?" Mikey yelped out, as Don gently scrubbed his leg.

"Methyl hydrate; it's an alcohol that is almost odorless, tasteless and colorless. It's extremely flammable and if it gets on your skin then it could cause temporary blindness and hallucinations. Raph uses it in the winter time to mix with the gasoline." Don explained calmly as he continued to furiously rub at Mikey's legs.

"**I'M BLIND!**" Mikey shouted in horror.

"Only temporarily…" Don said softly, as he moved up to Mikey's arm.

Mikey heard the slight waver in his brother's voice that told him that there was an _'I hope,' _attached to the end of that prognosis.

Mikey felt tears begin to prick his eyes as he tried to hold back the tears of despair and fear that begun to flow down his cheeks. The thought of being blind forever terrified him. He was scared of the dark, and the thought of living in darkness for the rest of his life made his heart constrict painfully in his chest and panic bubble up inside him crushing the air from his lungs. He let out a choked sob as the hot tears continued to roll down his cheeks.

"It's going to be OK Mikey. We'll get through this." Don consoled his baby brother, rubbing Mikey's shell in soothing circles briefly before he continued to wipe the chemical off.

"I'm freaking blind Don! We're stuck down here with no water! Little food! And…" Mikey sputtered to a stop as he felt Don place the wet wash cloth on his skin. "Umm Don…We don't have any water..."

"Don…Where did you get the water from?" Mikey asked softly.

Don remained uncomfortably silent.

"Donnie?" Mikey felt himself squeak in trepidation.

Mikey heard Don finally sigh, "I had to clean the alcohol off of your skin before you absorbed too much."

"Don! Please tell me you're not using toilet water!" Mikey exclaimed in horror and disgust.

"Mikey do you remember what you were supposed to do this morning?" Don asked quietly.

"I was supposed to do the dishes," Mikey replied.

"Did you?" Donnie asked.

"No. I heard my favorite TV show come on and I went to watch it instead." Mikey answered.

"But you did draw the water before you got distracted?" Donnie asked.

"Oh... I forgot I did that." Mikey said sheepishly.

"You're lucky you did do that or else I would have had to use the toilet water. But...It would have been more humane to put you out of your misery than do that." Don said grimly. "You don't want to know all the types of infections, diseases, or parasites you could have picked up if I did that." Donatello said severely. "Okay I'm done." Don said as Mikey felt his brother step back slightly.

"Thanks Don." Mikey said as he slid off the stool carefully.

Mikey felt Don grab his shoulder gently and guide him to the couch. Then, just as Mikey took a step, he felt a small rock painfully brushed against the wound on his foot. He shouted in pain, and felt his knees buckle. He began to fall face first towards the floor. He extended his arm to grab anything he could to stop him from falling. He managed to grab on to Don's left arm halting his terrifying fall, but he heard Don scream in agony as Mikey pulled at Don's arm. Mikey let go in shock and felt himself hit the ground hard.

He quickly recovered, but began to panic when he heard Don continue to scream and curse at the top of his lungs. Mikey felt his heart clench with overwhelming fear, Don never cursed, ever. But right now he was screaming curse words with the fluency of Raphael when he was pissed at someone; usually Leo.

"Don!" Mikey shouted in worry.

Don suddenly quieted. "Mikey..." Don croaked out very softly. But Don never finished his sentence. Instead Mikey heard the sound of a body hitting the ground with a painful thump.

Mikey felt his fear crawl further up his throat. "**DON!**" He screamed, as he quickly scrambled to his hands and knees and began frantically searching the floor for Donnie. Screaming his name every second.

"**DON!**" he said again, screaming at the top of his lungs.

He waved his hand across the floor and encountered Don's foot. "Don?" He said with relief at finding his brother. Mikey quickly scrambled to his brother's side, the deafening sound of the blood rushing through his ears. He gently placed his hand on Don's plastron and shook him. "Don?" He asked his brother as Mikey's heart hammered painfully in his chest.

There was no response, and Mikey felt the bile rise up in his throat. Choking the hot liquid down and trying to calm himself he shook his brother's shoulder gently. "Don…Please wake up!" He begged, his gentle shaking becoming more and more urgent when there was no response from his older brother.

He felt more tears roll down his cheeks, as he searched for his neck with trembling fingers. Finally finding the smooth skin of his brother's neck he placed a finger on it, feeling a pulse beating strongly beneath his fingertip. Mikey felt himself sag with relief. His brother hadn't suddenly just died on him. He was alive, but seemed to be unconscious for some reason. "Don" He said again, placing his hand on Don's cheek and gentle stroking it. "Please wake up, bro." He pleaded. He couldn't do this alone. He was too scared and too worried about themselves and the rest of their family to even think straight, let alone form any sort of plan.

He felt for his brother's hand, wanting, no, _needing_ to hold it, to feel the quiet strength that he had always gotten from his quiet, calm, genius brother. As he searched, he felt his fingertips brush down Don's arm. It felt strange. He pulled his searching fingers away in shock and gathering himself, he swallowed down his fear and his panic. He reached out again and placed his hand on Don's arm, feeling the warmth from his brother's skin quickly infiltrate Mikey's hand.

Don's arm seemed to be was extremely swollen and tender. Mikey's confusion rose, as he wrapped his hand around the arm completely and felt the bone, which it was completely disfigured.

"Oh my god, Don…" Mikey said, sick horror rolling around in his gut as he felt his brother's broken arm.

"God Damnit Donnie!" Mikey shouted, a hint of betrayal shooting through him. _'Why didn't he tell me? Was he just going to let it sit there and just let it begin to heal wrong?_' Mikey asked himself.

Mikey shifted so that he was sitting down. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged his knees in closer as he buried his face in his arms as he wept in frightened misery.

Mikey tried to think as he wept, but his mind was a black mass of fear filled emotions and broken thoughts. He didn't know what to do, or where to even start. He was useless. Raph always believed that he was the one who always screwed things up, but the truth was, it wasn't Raph, it was him. Mikey was the goofball of the family who could never take anything seriously and who always messed things up.

He wiped his eyes staring into the blackness that stretched out before him like an eternity. His eyes narrowed with determination. If Raph could realize that he wasn't a screw-up, then Mikey could recognize that he did not always have to be the clumsy goofball that always messed everything up and made it worse.

He looked over to where he knew his unconscious brother lay. He knew he didn't know what to do about being trapped in the lair, but he knew he could at least help his brother. Mikey knew how to set an arm. He remembered back to when Raph broke his arm and Don taught him how to set it, just in case Don was not around for some reason at least Mikey would know how to set a broken bone. Little did Don know how right he was going to be.

Mikey wiped away the remaining wetness from his cheeks and searched for Don's hand again. Once he found it, he grabbed it with his hand and held it tightly, hoping Don would wake up soon as he wrestled with his indecision. Just because he knew _how _to set the bone, didn't mean that he _could_. And considering he was blind he wasn't sure if setting the bone was worth the risk of him injuring his brother even worse than he already was. On the other hand Mikey knew that the longer his arm remained the way it was, the worse it would be for his brother.

Mikey scrunched up his snout in concentration. The problem was that he was the only one who _could_ set the break at the moment. They had no idea how their brother's and their father were and if they were at this moment trying to save them. Don had said that it could take hours or even _days_.

With this thought burning in his mind Mikey searched up Don's arm and felt the tenderness. _'How am I going to do this_?' He asked himself with trepidation.

He shifted closer to Don and grabbed his shoulders, lifting him up and searching through the darkness to find the nearest wall. Once he found one, he leaned Don up against the it, sitting his brother upright. '_Let's see if I can do this and hope I don't make things worse than they already are'_, Mikey thought to himself with grim determination. He shifted positions and placed his foot up against Don's chest, moving Don's legs so they were bent at the knees, and grabbed his brother's arm moving it between Mikey's legs. Mikey placed his other foot on the wall near Don's arm, waited for a second, and took a deep breath. "Sorry about this Don," He said softly, as he slowly began to pull his brother's arm towards him.

As he pulled, he heard Don begin to groan softly, Mikey wanted to stop, but knew that he couldn't, no matter how much he hurt his brother, he couldn't stop. He clenched his teeth and began to pull harder. He felt his heart suddenly jump as Don let out an ear piercing scream of agony. Mikey stopped pulling and quickly let go of Don's arm.

"What the **HELL**!" Don shouted, his voice full of pain and confusion.

"Donnie?" Mikey asked in a small fearful voice, wondering if he had made things worse by trying to set his brother's broken arm.

"Mikey! What the hell are you doing?" Don asked in a strained voice.

"You broke your arm and you decided not to tell me about it" Mikey said defensively in an injured voice, feeling his anger rise.

Don caught his breath, "OK, OK just…Just stop for a second." Don said, his voice becoming calmer.

"I can't Don." He protested with a shake of his head. "I need to fix your arm" Mikey finished firmly.

"It will be fine, just-" Donatello began.

Mikey growled and ferociously and pulled at Don's arm, his brother's voice sliding into a surprised gasp of pain that turned into a scream of agony as Mikey instantly felt the bone final snap back into place. Mikey quickly let go of Don's arm a second time and scooted away from his pain wracked brother. Don's screams eventually turned to a low growl, which finally dissolved into heavy panting.

"There… It's fixed." Mikey said, his voice shaking with a mixture of hurt, misery and anger.

Mikey could hear his brother's heavy breathing begin to calm. He was obviously still in extreme pain, but probably not as much as before, which caused Mikey's shoulders to sag in relief even though he pouted, still angry and upset with his brother for not trusting him enough to tell him that his arm had been broken in the first place.

They sat in silence, not saying anything to each other. Mikey crossed his arms over his chest in anger as he tried to keep a pout from crossing his face.

"I'm sorry Mikey…" Don finally began in a resigned voice. I wanted to tell you… But I didn't want you to worry." Don finished softly.

"But it could have gotten worse Donnie. Mikey protested, unable to keep a sting of anger from leaking into his voice. And it isn't as if you could fix it. So what were you planning, just leaving it?" Mikey asked the hurt thick in his voice. "I'm not a kid anymore Donnie. You don't always have to protect me." He said angrily. "All of you do it. I'm the 'baby' of the family and all of you try to protect me, and I get that, but I can handle things better than you think I can..." I wouldn't have been able to fix it" Mikey said softly

The room was filled with a strained silence. He heard Don begin to scoot closer to him, then felt Don wrap his arm around Mikey's shoulders.

"I'm sorry Mikey." Don said again in a gentle voice. "I... We, know that you aren't a child anymore and we know that you can handle things, because truthfully, we all know that you are the strongest of us all." Don paused for a moment as Mikey felt his eye ridges rise in surprise. "You are the strongest of us because you are the most innocent of all of us. And we all want to protect that innocence, because without it, we would all fall apart. You are the one who always lights up the room and any situation with your smile. You always crack awful jokes, even when the situation is at its worst and we need that.

"Sometimes we look at the world and wonder what the point of it all is. What is the point of all the fighting and the hatred? What is the point of fighting for humans who will never accept who and what we are? Leo and Raph are so jaded, they always tend to see things at their worst, even I do at times, but you, you always look on the bright side, no matter what. So we always want to protect you, not because you are the 'baby,' but because you are the one who makes everything worthwhile, the one who gives us hope that something better is always going to happen. That is why we always want to protect you, because the thought of you no longer smiling fills us with so much despair and fear, that sometimes it hurts to breathe." Donatello finished softly.

Mikey opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. He found himself to be completely speechless. He closed his mouth with a snap and leaned his head on Don's shoulder, for what felt like an eternity. Both were lost within their own thoughts, each having forgiven the other making the silence comfortable now.

Mikey then remembered Don's sickness, "Don, how's your head?" He asked.

"Hanging in there" Don answered.

"Is it gone?"

"Didn't even lessen a bit" Don said.

Mikey sighed, he leaned his head against his big brothers shoulder and closed his eyes, not making a difference, but it still felt good. Then they both heard a sound that made them jump, after a second of panic, Mikey felt Don scoot away and stand up. The sound was familiar, the same annoying ringtone that Don never seemed to change.

"Is that?" Mikey asked, not able to finish.

"Oh my god" Don said softly, "It's April!"

Mikey felt his heart jump with joy as he heard Don flip his phone open, "April!" Mikey heard Don say.

Mikey heard the voice on the other end speak, but way too deep for it to be April.

"Leo!" Don said suddenly. Don listened for a moment. "I know, the signal's weak...We're trapped in the lair, but fine, you? Raph and Master Splinter?" He asked with concern. But Mikey noticed that Don didn't elaborate on any of their injuries. Though Mikey supposed they were minor. Their family really only needed to know that they were still alive and trapped.

Mikey felt the first stirrings of something then. The ground started trembling beneath him. He felt himself begin to tense with panic. "Donnie!" He shouted at his brother.

"Aftershock!" Don yelled as Mikey felt his brother slide next to him. "We have to get somewhere safer." Don told him as he pulled Mikey to his feet, the lair began to shake around him.

Mikey still couldn't see, but he could hear the stones of the lair begin to crack and crumble around him. He clutched at his brother as he heard Leo's muffled and frantic question of _'Are you okay_!' float through the dust filled air.

Mikey heard the resounding crack of a large piece of stone finally giving way.

A scream of utter and complete terror bubble up and escape Mikey's lips as Don screamed right beside him.

Leo looked at April's cell phone in horror and terror, he wanted to scream for them, but as soon as he did he felt the ground below him start to shake ferociously, he gripped onto the phone as tight as he could, keeping his balance by holding onto the wall. He looked up and saw Raph and Splinter as they hid underneath April's kitchen table, Leo heard April's yelp and watched as he fell over and quickly crawled under the table.

"Leonardo, you must hurry!" Splinter shouted.

Just then he felt a sudden pain in his neck and felt as a bookcase he was in front of abruptly fell forward and crashed into him, causing him to hit the ground and drop the April's phone.

"LEO!" Raph shouted.

Leo rubbed the back of his head and looked up, seeing April's phone on the ground. As Leo reached for the phone, the only way he could keep in touch with his little brothers, a piece of the roof broke off, heading straight for the phone. The last thing he heard before the phone was smashed to pieces was his baby brothers, crying and begging for help.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Woo! Update!_**

**_And this chapter was alittle bit of me_**

**_Little but of Amonraphionex_**

**_And a little bit of DarkUnderworld_**

**_YAY!_**

**_PARTY!_**

**_...Sorry about that_**

**_Here it is!_**

**_Enjoy!_**

**_I own nothing_**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 5<span>

"So why exactly did you bring us up here?" Raph growled in irritation, his voice cranky and bordering on impenitence. He had been expecting to go out on a routine patrol, until Master Splinter had told Raph and Leo to follow him up to the top of a tall building overlooking the city.

"Because Raphael," Master Splinter began with an irritated sigh. "I have noticed that you and Leonardo have been acting very antagonistic towards each other lately and I thought it would be prudent to bring you both up here to sort out your differences in a place where the likelihood of breakable objects being destroyed is slightly less." Master Splinter explained patiently.

Leo looked at Master Splinter in resignation and then turned his attention out across the vastness and beauty of the city skyline in the distance. Leo closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly through his mouth.

"How do you think Don's holding up?" Raph asked Leo, ignoring their father's request for him and Leo to sort out their differences.

Leo looked to where their father had found a spot against a wall, giving them some privacy while he meditated cross-legged on the rooftop. "He'll be fine," Leo responded offhandedly "It's probably just the flu."

"But was it a good idea to leave Mikey with him?" Raph questioned with worry. "Does Mikey even know the first thing about medicine and all that stuff?"

"He doesn't need to," Leo responded calmly, attempting to reassure his brother. "He's just there to watch him and make sure he doesn't pass out or anything, and if he does, then Mikey can just call us and we'll head back." Leo said patiently.

"That's another thing that irks me, "Raph growled. "These damn phones" He said holding his phone up and shaking it firmly.

"Raphael!" Master Splinter scolded from across the rooftop making them aware that their father had been paying attention to their conversation.

"Sorry sensei, but these phones are garbage. We only get really good service topside and crappy service in the lair and tunnels, with a bunch of dead spots scattered all over the place. "I hafta talk to Donnie to see if he would fix us up with new phone, like an iPhone, yeah…something like that" Raph said excitedly.

"I have to agree," Leo said nodding his head in agreement."These phones aren't very dependable when it comes to emergencies"

Master Splinter sighed and shook his head. "I suppose it is working. " He said as he stood and walked back over to them.

Leo and Raph glanced over at him, "What's working?" Raph asked confused.

"By bringing you two up here and away from the confines of the lair, you seem to be talking to each other in a more civil manner without arguing or trying to kill each other." Master Splinter explained.

"Master, you can't expect us to just stop arguing." Raph said with a shake of his head. "It's in our nature to argue, we're brothers!" Raph said with a wry smile, his eyes flashing with amusement.

"I am well aware of that Raphael, but sometimes it gets a little out of hand." Their father said to them sternly.

"If Raphael learned to control his temper..." Leo began turning a reproachful glare towards his younger sibling.

"**My temper!**" Raph roared, his eye ridges shooting up in surprise at the sudden attack. "It's your small mindedness that inflames my temper!" Raph shot back.

Leo's own eye ridges shot up in surprise but fell when he glared at his brother again. "Are you saying that I'm the cause of your anger issues?" Leo asked stoically.

Yeah Leo, that's exactly what I'm sayin'." Raph growled back at his older brother, his voice containing a sharp edge of anger.

"Enough!" Master Splinter barked sharply. "This is exactly what I am talking about." He said in exasperation. "You two need to learn that-" Master Splinter suddenly stopped mid lecture and went completely still.

Raph and Leo exchanged a confused look at turned their attention back to their father.

"Master?" Leo asked in sudden concern, "What's wrong?"

"Did you not feel that my sons?" Master Splinter asked quietly.

"Feel what?" Raph asked as he looked around for some sign of what his father had sensed.

They stood in silence for a moment and that is when Leo felt what his father had. He felt a soft vibration rumbling below his feet.

"Train?" Leo asked.

"We wouldn't feel a train while standin' on the roof of a buildin'. At least not this high up." Raph said as he slowly searched the roof and street below, for something to explain the mysterious vibrations.

Suddenly the vibrations increased causing the building they stood on to sway alarmingly. Master Splinter lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Leo lost his footing as well, crashing to the ground in a heap as Raph yelled something and rushed to help their father to stand.

Leo managed to regain his footing and looked over the side of the still shaking building. People had begun to panic, the shouting and the harsh blare of car horns managed to be heard over the grinding, heaving sound of concrete scraping along concrete.

The vibrations intensified as the building began to groan threateningly. Leo was barely able to stay on his feet as the chaos happening in the streets below increased. Leo grabbed the ledge of the building hanging on for dear life. He witnessed cars down below run into each other and other buildings.

Leo felt his heart drop to his feet as he heard an ominous creaking, like the buckling and bending of steel that was not supposed to bend, and then the loud cacophony sound of concrete crumbling as the building - the next block over - crumbled to the ground like a delicate house of cards.

Asphalt split and cracked, heaving skywards in places as light posts fell to the ground, their lights going dark, adding to the sense of desperate panic that filled the streets.

Over the sounds of the chaos Leo was able to hear the panicked voice of Raph shouting his name desperately.

"**LEO!**" His brother screamed.

Leo looked over and saw that his brother and father had already made it across the rooftop and were waiting at the door that led to the building's stairwell.

"**LEONARDO!** Come quickly!" Master Splinter shouted at him.

Leo's mind finally cleared itself of its shock and confusion. He pushed himself away from the ledge and sprinted toward his brother and father, but halted mid-stride at the sight of the ground in front of them crumbling and collapsing in on itself. Leo looked across the yawning abyss and knew that he was cut off from his family.

"Oh God." Leo whispered as he searched for another way across, ignoring the look of horror and hopelessness that filled both his brother and his father's eyes as they searched in vain for another route as well and come to the same horrible conclusion.

"You guys go!" Leo shouted, "I'll find another way down!" He said, urging them to go.

"**NO!**" Raph roared, shaking his head in refusal. "I'm not leaving without you!" Raph shouted at him, the stubborn set to his jaw indicating he was not going to leave.

"Raph! **GO!** I'll be fine!" Leo insisted loudly over the noise of shattering buildings and the screams of terrified people.

Master Splinter gently took Raph's hand. "We must go my son, Leonardo will make his way down." He said coaxingly, tugging Raph's hand slightly.

Raph looked as if he was going to refuse, but looked into their father's concerned eyes and gave a reluctant nod instead. "Don't you dare die on us, or I'll find you and kill you myself." Raph threatened as Leo gave a small smirk and a nod. Raph and his father managed to open the door and scramble through the entrance, disappearing into the buildings darkened interior.

Leo quickly looked around for a fire escape, drainpipe, or any other feasible escape route from the roof of the building and found none. Leo suddenly lost his balance as he heard a high pitched screech of bending metal as the building he was standing on gave a wail of protest before it tilted forward at an unnatural angle.

He quickly looked around for anything to grab and hold onto. The building continued to fall forward towards the building across the street; which was rapidly approaching.

"He looked at the oncoming building in desperation, knowing it was his only hope. He shifted into a crouch and readied himself, waiting for the perfect moment and seeing it kicked himself to his feet and ran full speed toward the incoming building. He leapt from the edge of his toppling building and straight for a window in the building opposite. For a moment he was suspended between the two buildings. Thousands of tons worth of concrete, metal and glass crumbling to rubble behind him. His hands reached desperately towards the window ledge and felt relief fill him as his hand found purchase on the sill.

He held on for dear life, the muscles in his fingers began screaming in pain. He looked down and saw the building he had been standing on crumble to the ground in a twisted heap of metal and concrete. Leo shook his head in denial when he realized that his father and brother had not had time to make it out of the building before it collapsed. He choked back a keening wail of grief that wanted to escape as he felt his grip on the windowsill slacken.

"No" Leo said softly to himself, trying his best to regain his failing grip, but felt his hands slide off the rough edge, but lost his tenuous grip. There was the momentary feeling of horrifying weightlessness and then blissful oblivion.

….

Leo's eyes snapped open in shock as his entire body was suddenly introduced to a new level of pain. He rolled off his carapace and onto his side. He groaned as pain exploded behind his eyes and shot straight through to his chest. He wiped the blood from his eyes and slowly sat up. It hurt to breathe and he realized that at the very least he had bruised his ribs, if not actually broken some of them. He gingerly sat up and looked around him.

The streets were empty, the sky a deep indigo blue and all the lights were out in the city. _How long had he been out?_ He wondered to himself foggily as he took in the deserted carnage of the street.

He ignored the pain that shot through him and stood up, looked at the broken pieces of rock and brick that were the remnants of the building that he, Raph and Master Splinter had stood on.

"**RAPH!**" Leo shouted in anguish, "**SENSEI**!" His voice cracking as he called for his missing father and brother.

He listened intently, trying to hear any small sound or response to his frantic shouting, but the only response he heard was sound of rescue sirens off in the distance.

Leo stumbled over to the rubble searching desperately for any sign of his brother and father, but found no sign of them anywhere.

"**RAPH!**" He called out in desperation, dread and trepidation clenched tighter in his chest.

He knelt down and frantically began shifting through pieces of broken chunks of concrete and brick hoping to uncover anything. He searched and moved over to another spot, beginning the process of removing the rubble again.

After what felt like hours of moving crumbling debris and moving from spot to spot, his muscle's burned in pain, and his arms felt like jelly. He stopped to catch his breath, "**RAPH!**" He screamed his voice coarse and strained with overuse of screaming for his brother and father in vain.

Only silence greeted his desperate cries.

His heart felt like it was going to explode as he fought back the tears of grief that trembled on the edges of his eyes. He continued moving concrete and debris until he found something that made his heart clench with fear.

He dipped his finger into a crimson pool of blood, the color standing out starkly against the grey, dust covered ground. He examined the blood and saw to his horror, bits of grey fur clinging to his fingers, mixed in with the fresh blood.

"No." Leo said in denial, his voice rough with misery. "Please, please no"

He felt a hot, salty tear roll down his cheek as he clenched his fist in anger and slammed it down hard onto a piece of broken rock sending a small shock-wave of pain rolling up his arm. He glanced up and felt his whole body freeze in disbelief and dismay as his heart crumbled to ash at the sight of a gently flapping red mask impaled through a piece of rebar that jutted out from the rubble.

"Raph." Leo whispered mournfully. "**RAPH!**" He roared in misery filled anguish, his voice echoing through the empty street.

He finally forced himself to struggle to his feet and stepped away, from the evidence of his father and brother's grisly demise, even as he struggled to accept it. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and sprinted hard in the opposite direction, running as fast as he could away from his brother and father's grave.

His legs finally collapsed beneath him, he fell to the ground hard, jarring his injuries and sending red hot waves of pain filled agony bursting across his chest. He leaned forward and watched as the tears fell from his eyes to drip onto the pavement below, darkening it with his misery and anguish. He wiped his tears away and looked up and noticed that he was in a familiar part of town. His eyes skimmed past and then darted back to focus upon a manhole cover.

Terror crushed the air from his lungs suffocating him, as icy panic crawled along his skin.

_Mikey and Donnie_. He thought in horror as he surged to his feet and ran to the tunnel cover. He placed his fingers through the holes of the manhole cover and pulled, sliding the cover off and placing it beside him. Leo felt awful how could he have forgot about his other two brothers so carelessly in the wake of such devastation.

He slowly climbed down the ladder and landing carefully on the filth covered floor. Trepidation crawled over his skin as he sensed that something had gone horribly wrong in the underground tunnels. He made his way through a series of snaking tunnels until he noticed a crack running through the ceiling, the light filtering down into the tunnels. He quickened his pace, and turning the corner, he was met with even more light. A huge gaping hole, like the maw of some horrible beast roaring at him from above; a blazing scream of light upon a place where sunlight should not shine. Leo's gaze dropped and moved painfully towards the mountain of debris, asphalt and earth that now blocked the only tunnel that lead to the lair.

"No." Leo said in soft denial as he walked up to the pile of refuse and placed a trembling hand on the broken surface. He closed his eyes as bleak hopelessness flowed through him, there were no other man hole covers beyond this point and no other tunnels intersect this one/ There was no way to get to the lair unless Leo dig through the rubble pile. He was too tired to try and move any of the debris and too weak to scream in frustration. He leaned up against the rock, opened his eyes and slid to the ground, resting his carapace against the a broken piece of brickwork. He pulled out his shell cell and flipped it open.

**'No signal' **

"Of course" He mumbled miserably to himself in a soft, defeated voice.

The letter's seared an after image into his mind as he closed his eyes and leaned his head despondently back against the bricks at his back.

He closed his shell cell with a snap knowing that he had to get up, but was physically unable to put this mental order into action.

_Raph and Master Splinter are dead and I can't contact Mikey and Donnie. Leo thought bitterly to himself with grief laced fear._

He felt more tears trickle slowly down his cheeks as darkness swam up and pulled him down into peaceful nothingness.

…..

Leo walked into the blinding bright light that shone down from the gaping hole in the ceiling of the tunnel. He wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious for, but the sun was brighter than it had been He reached out and grasped the first rung in a ladder and managed to pull himself up to the surface. He pulled himself from the confining space and lay in the center of the alley, the bright sunlight shinning down on him. Every tiny movement, every twitch of muscle, and every strained breath brought a new level of pain to his badly bruised and broken body. He looked down the street and saw people walking and sifting through the rubble. He got to his feet as fast as he was able and rapidly maneuvered through the alley way.

Leo paused mid step as his mind hit upon the question; _Where can I go?_ He wondered to himself as a feeling of intense loneliness and loss tore through him. A thought struck him then.

"April's!" He said softly.

…..

Leo managed to make his way to April's building and breathed a sigh of relief at finding his friend's building looked to have suffered little damage. There were some broken windows here and there, but nothing structurally significant. He made his way painfully to the side of the building and climbed up the fire escape. He climbed up a few stories, stopping when he reached April's apartment window. He looked inside April's window and seeing her on her laptop, tapped his knuckles against the window.

He saw April turn around and look at him, her face filling with relief and joy as she stood up and dashed to the window swiftly opening it for him.

"Leo! You're OK!" April cried in relief.

"Yeah…I'm fine" Leo said, his voice shaking with emotion as he hugged her as tightly as his injuries would allow.

"We were so worried about you" She said as she gently pulled away.

Leo looked at her in confusion. "We?" he questioned, a small spark of hope lighting within him as a figure entered at the very edge of his peripheral vision. Turning his head sharply he encountered Raph standing in the doorway, covered in bandages, a look of shock and relief flooding his features.

"Oh my god **LEO!**" Raph shouted happily, as Raph dashed towards him.

Leo let go of April and embraced his brother. "I thought you were dead" Leo whispered softly in Raph's neck.

"We did too" Raph said, his voice shaking as tears slowly rolled down his brother's cheeks and landed on Leo's shoulders.

Leo pulled back and caught a glimpse of his father lying in the spare bedroom. "Sensei" He said, running to his father and gently pulling him into a warm embrace.

"I was very worried Leonardo" Master Splinter said to him as the kind rat gently stroked a finger across Leo's cheek.

Leo buried his face in Master Splinter's shoulder, holding him tightly, and feeling as if he never wanted to let go.

…..

Has anyone been able to contact Donnie or Mikey yet?" Leo asked with worry as his brother sat down at the table, April pouring him a cup of tea and setting the hot brew before him. He took a grateful sip and waited for his brother to answer.

"No." Raph said with a frustrated shake of his head, "I can't get a signal anywhere."

"My phone normally get's good signal," April began as she opened up a first aid kit that she had just placed on the table. "But ever since the quake I haven't had any signal either. It's possible that there were some cell towers that went down during the quake."

Leo nodded his head grimly and winced slightly as April began dabbing at a deep cut that ran across the left side of his head. When she had finished bandaging the wound and telling him he probably had a few broken ribs they sat in silence.

Leo sipped at his tea and tried not to think about the worst possible scenarios involving Mikey and Donnie.

"I'm sure they are fine." April's voice cut through the oppressive silence of the room like a knife.

Leo was about to answer her when his shell cell began to ring. He pulled the device from his belt and looked at it with a mixture of disbelief and trepidation. He flipped it open. "Donnie?" He questioned.

Donnie's voice came over the phone, but his words were garbled and he couldn't hear him through the static. He placed the phone on speaker so Raph and April could hear Don as well. "Donnie I can't hear you!" He said as he quickly stood and tried to find a spot where the reception would be better.

His brother answered that the signal he had was weak, and that they were trapped in the lair, but otherwise fine. Don then inquired to how they all were and Leo answered that they were fine as well.

Master Splinter hobbled from the bedroom, his broken leg held off the ground as he clutched at his walking stick.

"Master..." Leo hissed until his attention was diverted to the small rumbling vibrations that began to shake the floor he was standing on.

"Aftershock!" Leo heard Donnie's voice yell over the phone. The reception became even worse as Leo heard his brother frantically tell Mikey that they had to get somewhere safe.

Leo could hear rock collapsing and he shouted into the phone wanting to know if they were okay, but the only answer he received were his brother's ear piercing screams. He looked down at his phone in absolute horror and terror. "**MIKEY! DONNIE!**" He screamed into the phone, his hand crushing the device so hard that he nearly broke it.

His throat closed up as he looked at the rest of his family in hopeless disbelief. Raph was pale, but his face was filled with determination. Master Splinter looked calm, but shook visibly as he clutched his walking stick tightly.

"We'll find 'em Leo." Raph said as he put a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezing it gently.

"And..." Leo swallowed down the sick, hot bile that crawled up his throat. "If we are too late?" He asked with a hitch in his voice, a single hot tear rolling down his cold cheek.

Raph remained silent, not willing to think or accept that possibility that his younger brothers were dead.

Master Splinter with a heavy sigh looked at Leonardo resolved. "Then you bring them home." He said quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Just want to let everyone know my storied might not be coming as fast as they usually are because i am focusing on my actual novel. And again, Me, **_ Amonraphionex and _**_DarkUnderworld!  
><em>**

**_Enjoy!  
><em>**

* * *

><p><strong>Quicksand Chapter 6<strong>

The ceiling shook, pieces of rock falling to the ground. Mikey curled his fingers tightly around Don's bicep, keeping him close as their world shook around them. Things were happening so fast that, he couldn't even think. But he knew instinctively that that if they stayed where they were, they were both going to die.

Mikey felt apprehensive fear coarse through him and settle around his heart, like a cold hand gripping that tender organ tightly; squeezing it mercilessly as Donnie screamed into the phone. Screaming for help and for Leo to come and rescue them, to save them from impending death.

Mikey felt a powerful hand suddenly wrap around his wrist, and he yelped in shock and fear.

"**COME ON!**" Don screamed as he pulled hard Mikey's hand.

Mikey flew through the dark, trying to get to his feet as he his brother dragged him across the ground, feeling the small pebbles on the floor dig and scrape along his skin. He finally managed to get to his feet and followed Don's pace as they raced across the shaking, crumbling lair.

Suddenly Mikey ran straight into a hard and unyielding object. Since he was holding onto the object that had stopped Mikey realized that he had run straight into Don's shell. "Why did you stop?" Mikey shouted as the ground bucked beneath his feet, threatening to make him lose his uncertain footing and fall to the ground.

"We can't go upstairs" Don relied, softly, an odd catch in his voice alerting Mikey to the fact that there was something very wrong.

"Why not!" Mikey yelled over the rumbling and distressed groaning of the lair.

"It's gone…It's completely gone" Don said in dull shock.

"What!" Mikey yelped in disbelief.

There was an momentary pause filled with expectation. Don could have been talking, Mikey wasn't sure because the sound of a massive rock striking the ground somewhere close to them drown out all noise but his fearful heart beating rapidly in his chest. His strained breathing coming in harsh gasps to his ears.

"**THIS WAY!**" Don shouted, as Mikey was once again pulled roughly forward. He stumbled after his brother, sharp bits of rock and debris biting into the soles of his already abused feet.

The shaking became worse, as Mikey felt his toe slam painfully into the couch leg, "Yeow!" Mikey bellowed as he began hopping on one foot clutching his injured toe.

"Oh my God." Mikey heard Don whispered softly.

"What now!" Mikey growled in frustration at not being able to see what was going on.

There was a deathly silence that swept across Mikey's senses even though the lair was filled with anything but silence. Mikey stopped hopping on one foot, his ears searching for some indication or clue as to what had cause his brother to exclaim with a hint of fear in his voice.

There was a sickening groan and the sharp grinding sound of rock breaking away from rock as there was a massive crack and the sound of thousands of tons of stone and earth crashing to the ground in front of them.

Mikey!" Donnie screamed as the force of the impact shook the floor unbalancing him as forceful hands pushed him off his feet. Mikey tumbled to the ground, his body hitting the unforgiving debris littered floor as rock and dust rained about him striking his unprotected flesh, stinging his eyes and filling his nostrils with so much dust that he began coughing.

It was at that moment that a cold terror seized his heart as he realized that Don had let go of his wrist. _No, more than that, my brother pushed me. Pushed me out of the way of something, but what?_ He wondered to himself in trepidation as he slowly swallowed down the ball of fear that had lodged itself into his throat.

"Don?" Mikey asked in a small shaking voice that contained ever last bit of terror crammed into one plaintive word.

Silence was his only answer as he tried again. "**DONNIE!**" He screamed in panic as he frantically began feeling the floor around him.

He quickly scrambled to his hands and knees as he desperately searched the ground as he continued to scream his brother's name over and over again. His searching hands brushed across the rough surface of a wall and he stood on shaky legs as he tried to get his bearings. He slid his hands along the wall until they scraped across what felt like a huge chunk of rock. Mikey realized that he had stumbled to the blocked entrance of the lair. As he was about to call Don's name again, he heard something break off and something hard strike his wounded arm which sent pain radiating across his burnt flesh.

Mikey yelped and backed away too quickly, his feet sliding on the rocky debris causing him to trip and fall hard, landing on his carapace. Mikey felt panic rip and tear at him, but it was almost too painful to try to get up. He felt tears of frustration and fear prick his eyes as he gritted his teeth. He rolled onto his side and pulled himself into a quivering ball of misery, his hands protecting his head from more falling debris.

He closed his eyes in wretchedness and waited for something to end; either the shaking or his life and at this point he almost didn't care which one it was, just as long as _something_ stopped. He clenched is teeth together and waited for the cold, soft hand of death to finally end his young life.

Suddenly a thick silence filled the lair, the only sound was the settling and shifting of some small rocks and stones. Mikey peeked through one eye, then remembered that he was still blind and it was pitch black in the lair anyways. He removed his hands from his head and felt around the area near him. He felt a lot of small rocks and a couple larger ones but nothing else.

"The lair." Mikey said softly, knowing that the lair was completely destroyed now. He didn't even need to be able to see it to know it. He could just feel it and he knew that his brother was somewhere in the lair, possibly hurt or worse.

Mikey quickly scrambled to his feet, carefully maneuvering around the fallen rocks and debris. "Donnie! Come on bro, answer me, please." He pleaded hopelessly into the dark silence that surrounded him. He waved his arms out in front of him hoping to find his way back to where he had lost Don, which was somewhere around the stairs.

He continued calling Don's name as he frantically searched for his missing brother.

He felt his hand hit what felt like the arm of the couch, he grabbed onto it as his arm twitched in pain. He slowly removed his arm from the couch and rubbed it gently, trying to move around the couch trying not to let the hopeless feeling that was festering in his gut consume him. He wiped away at a few stray tears that managed to escape as he felt along the couch, stopping when his hand came across a large rock. It was resting in the middle of the couch, the two sides broken and sloping downward.

"Oh, God!" Mikey said softly, when he realized that the couch had been destroyed. For some reason this fact seemed to bring home the hopeless horror of his and Don's situation.

"Donnie" Mikey whispered brokenly, not wanting to know any more about what else had been destroyed.

He turned away from the couch in the direction of the kitchen. He kept a firm grip on the couch as he swept his feet around the area, feeling for Don. His heart rose slightly at not finding his brother crushed beneath the massive chunk of rock.

"Dammit Don where are you!" Mikey almost shouted, hoping to hear a smart ass remark from his older brother, but deafening silence was his only answer.

Mikey uneasily made his way around the other side of the couch, just reaching the arm when he felt something soft hit his foot. He froze, then slowly moved his foot to where he felt the soft object. His breath caught in his throat and his heart hammered at a sickening pace within his chest as he realized that his foot had brushed lightly over a hand.

He quickly bent down and grabbed the hand, following up the arm until he reached his brother's carapace. He placed both hands on Don's carapace, "Donnie?" He asked softly as he gently shook his brother, but receiving no response.

Mikey tried again and receiving no response tentatively reached out for Donnie's head. Once his palms touched the back of Don's head, his rapidly beating heart sank in horror and despair as his hand was met with a wet, stickiness that could only be blood. He swallowed down his horror and his fear. He shakily reached out to carefully touch the blood again, feeling an open gash beneath his fingertips.

"Oh my God, Don!" Mikey sobbed. He felt panic try to overwhelm and consume him as his mind furiously worked as he sought out the answer to help his injured brother. He checked his brother's pulse and found it beating strongly beneath his fingers. Mikey breathed out a sigh of relief knowing that he needed to stop the bleeding, but he didn't have anything to stop the bleeding _with._ His frantic mind finally fell upon an answer as he quickly untied Don's mask and placed it firmly upon the gash. After a minute, the mask became soaked with blood. He cursed loudly and untied his own mask, placing it upon the gash as well. He couldn't tell if the wound had stopped bleeding, but he could feel that his mask was also drenched with his brother's blood, but having nothing else to staunch the flow of blood, he left his mask upon his brother's wound.

Mikey reached out his bloodstained hands tentatively searching for any more obvious injuries that his brother may have suffered and found no new ones besides the head wound. He gathered his brother up in his arms and slowly rocked back and forth trying not to hyperventilate as he pleaded with his brother to wake up.

"Don, please wake up" Mikey said softly, holding his brother's limp body close to his heart. "Please…Please don't leave me here alone." Mikey begged, burying his face in his brother's neck and sobbing quietly.

A familiar but foreign sound cut through the silence of the lair like a well honed blade. His head shot up as he turned his head in the direction of the noise. It sounded like, the vibrating of an object against hard stone. He gently lay Don back on the ground. He got on to his hands and knees, crawling in the direction that the vibrating was coming from.

As he got closer to the sound he reached out his right hand and felt for the phone, his hands brushing over the hard plastic case. His fingers wrapped around the device and the vibrations rolled down his arm in tiny, insistent waves. He stared at the phone in his hand and knew that it wasn't vibrating because someone was trying to call, but rather the phone was vibrating because the battery was about to die.

The vibrations stopped, and Mikey carefully set the phone down on the ground and scooted back to his brother, grabbing Don's hand and holding it tightly in his own.

"I'm sorry Don." Mikey sniffed softly, his voice trembling with anguish. "This is all my fault." He said shaking his head from side to side in regret. "If only I hadn't burned myself and got that stupid chemical on my skin... I wouldn't be blind..." He choked out, tears streaming down his cheeks as the phone began vibrating again.

He looked towards the vibrating phone and frustrated anger rose up and over his misery. He scrambled over to and picked up the object of his ire, clutching it tightly in his grasp he shouted, "Would you shut the hell up!" As he flipped the phone open. He went to press the red button, but he slammed his eyes shut at the sudden and intense brightness that blazed through his eyes. He covered his eyes and dropped the phone in surprise, the sound of plastic upon stone echoing throughout the lair.

Mikey shook his head and blinked his eyes a few times before realizing that he just saw a light.

He quickly picked up the phone up again and flipped it open, preparing to see light and once again, the beautiful brightness entered his eyes.

"I can see." He whispered in disbelief.

He tried looking around the lair, but all he could see where different shades of grey and a dim light. He resisted the urge to rub his eyes to try to make the image more clear, knowing that it would not help. He blinked rapidly a few times, his vision becoming slightly more clear but knowing that the phone was about to die soon. Just as this thought penetrated his brain, the small amount of light he was able to see, vanished.

"No" Mikey whimpered softly as he looked out into darkness once again.

"No, No, No!" Mikey shouted in frustration as hot anger clutched at his stomach. He clenched the phone in a punishing grip and launched it across the lair. He heard as it smashed against the wall and clattered in several pieces to the ground.

Mikey buried his face in his arms and sniffed wretchedly as he fought back the fresh tears of frustration and hopelessness that threatened to fall.

He wiped his damp cheeks with the back of his uninjured arm and scrambled back over to Don. He found his brother and realized that his brother's skin felt much cooler than it had a moment ago.

Fear ripped his breath away as his shaking fingers reached out, trying to find Donatello's pulse. His fingers pressed against his brother's cooling flesh, praying to feel the soft and reassuring beat in his brothers neck, but found nothing.

"Nooooo!" Mikey screamed into the darkness as tears burned twin trails of misery down his cheeks. His finger fell away from his brother's neck as he shook his head wildly in denial even as he accepted his brother's death, and the one who was responsible for it.

"I'm sorry Donnie." He sobbed out as he looking into the darkness that surrounded him. "It's all my fault. It's all my fault." He repeated in a muffled voice as he buried his face in his hands.

He finally wiped away his tears and swallowed down his grief. "Donnie…I don't know if you can hear me," he began as he tried to steady his words. I hope that wherever you are, you can still hear me, cause I need you to know something." He paused for a moment, his heart breaking with anguish. "All my life…I've never felt more of a connection with anyone, not Raph, not Leo,…Not even April. But you…you were my best were always there to comfort me when I was sad; to protect me when I was scared and to heal my wounds when I was hurt. I mean, Leo and Raph protected me and stuff…but not like you. Don…I'm sorry. I let you down. I shouldn't have been so…so irresponsible. If I wasn't so careless I wouldn't have been blinded by some stupid liquid that I've never even heard of; and I wouldn't have caught my arm on fire; and I would have been there for you when the aftershock hit. But no, I was stupid, and I got you killed!" He finished wretchedly as his eyes burned with the sting of too many tears.

He gathered Donnie's body up into his arms again and whispered into his brother's ear. "I can't do this alone Donnie…I need you Donnie…I need you here with me…I…I just..."

His heart clenched in fearful panic as a noise interrupted him. He twisted his head towards the sound, but saw nothing in the darkness, "Hello?" Mikey asked softly in a hesitant voice.

"Mikey?" He heard his oldest brother's voice drift back to him.

Mikey felt his heart rise with profound relief. "Leo?" he questioned, not wanting to believe his own ears.

"Mikey where are you?" Leo's voice asked worriedly.

"Over here!" He shouted gently shifting Don's body from his lap as he scrambled to his feet. "I can't believe you're here, bro!" He said with unimaginable relief as he walked towards the sound of his oldest brother's voice.

"Of course we're here, you knucklehead, now where are ya? I can't see a dang thing." Raph's voice echoed throughout the lair.

"I'm…I'm over here, by the couch." Mikey replied in the direction of Raph's voice, but his eyes were unable to see anything in the darkness."Don…Donnie..." Grief caught in his throat cutting off his words.

"Oh my God!" Leo exclaimed. Mikey, what happened to him?" Leo asked in concern. His brother's voice coming from behind him. Mikey turned and quickly stumbled back to where he had left Don's corpse.

"I don't know, I was blind when he was hurt and I still can't really see anything." Mikey said with a quiver of misery in his voice. "Do you guys have flashlights? Because I can't see them... I think I might still be mostly blind" Mikey asked as he dashed a fresh tears from his eyes.

"You're blind?" Leo almost shouted, ignoring his question about the flashlight.

"I guess I still am." Mikey admitted sadly. "Where are you guys?" Mikey asked as his blind eyes searched the darkness.

"We're over hear Mikey," Raph said in a comforting tone. "We're helping Don. Don't worry, we're here." Raph said.

Mikey smiled, feeling his heart leap with hope. "Donnie?" He asked.

"Don's OK," Leo told Mikey who's face broke into a huge, relieved grin. "He's alive. How are you feeling Donnie?" Leo asked in worry.

"I'm fine Leo" Don replied with a slight groan.

"Donnie!" Mikey cried out in joy as he frantically searched for his brother. "Where are you?"

"Over here Mikey" Don said.

Mikey looked in the direction of the voice, his eyes straining to see anything and managing to detect the faint outline of one of his brothers. "It's OK Mikey," Don said in a soothing voice. "We're here, you don't have to be afraid anymore."

Mikey smiled, closed his eyes, and sat back down on the dusty ground. Leo and Raph had found them, and Donnie was going to be okay.

After a couple minutes of silence, Mikey looked up. "Hey Leo, you got any food? I'm starving," Mikey asked.

There was no response to his question, only a still, heavy silence.

"Leo?" Mikey asked, his voice shaking in fear and confusion.

Again, nothing, but silence answered him back.

Mikey quickly scrambled to his feet and looked around. "Leo?...Raphie?" He asked plaintively as he took a few tentative steps in the direction that he had heard his brother's voices come from.

The silence drew a shiver of fears down his back as he quickly knelt down searching for his injured brother. His hand encountered the cold, icy arm of Don.

"Oh my God!" Mikey said softly as he realized that he must have imagined his older brother's rescuing them.

He felt his heart fill with misery, disappointment, and anger. He had thought he was safe, but he wasn't. He was alone, trapped, and his brother was still dead.

Mikey sat down heavily on the floor and buried his face in arms, crying wretchedly, his shoulders shaking with the force of his sobs.

A strange sound broke through his despair. He lifted his head and listened intently. The silence was broken by a strange moan. He frantically and hopefully looked towards his fallen brother.

"Donnie?" Mikey asked softly.

Don didn't respond. Mikey shook his head despondently and stood up, still hearing the low groaning sound.

Mikey stepped forward hands held out in front of him as he cautiously made his way through his darkened surroundings. His heart froze in fear as a low growl stopped him in his tracks. He swallowed nervously in fear as the growling continued.

Mikey felt warm air travel down his neck, like a soft, hungry breath.

Mikey stumbled forward his arms encountering a wall then a doorway. He recognized the door from Don's lab. It was then he remembered, Don always kept a flashlight in his lab. Why Don hadn't thought about the flashlight he wasn't sure, but he knew he needed to find it. He cautiously made his way into Don's lab trying to remember where Don kept the flashlight. He tried to ignore the strange moans and groaning that seemed to fill the air around him, and the hot breath on the back of his neck that sent shivers down his spine and goose-bumps along his skin. He ran forward towards Don's computer desk, remembering that his brother always stored the flashlight in the drawer beside the computer. He hit is knee and his toes on a few objects, silently swallowing down his curses as he made it to the desk. Fumbling with the drawer he bent over and pulled it open, his hand reaching in and feeling the round, metal cylinder of the flashlight.

Mikey pulled it quickly from the drawer, straightening as he felt for the button. His hands shook as his searching fingers finally managed to find the button, pressing it firmly.

Light flooded the lab with bright and glorious light. His eyes adjusted to the new brightness. He was pleased that his eyes were finally able to focus and see.

He felt his heart clench in terror as he saw, standing by the door of the lab, seven putrid, decaying zombies. Alerted by the light they began to shuffle towards him in halting steps.

He choked on his fear and panic and took a frightened step backwards. A low growl and warm breath alerted him to someone, or something standing directly behind him. He slowly turned around, then his whole body became numb with horrified terror as he stared into the amber eyes of a massive werewolf who stood in front of him, it's gaping maw filled with razor sharp teeth, bloody drool dripping onto it's dark silver fur.

Mikey lashed out with his flashlight striking the werewolf in the snout. He quickly turned as the werewolf howled in pain and fury. Mikey darted past the outstretched, clawing arms of the zombies and ran towards the living room. He couldn't leave his brother to be eaten by the zombies or the werewolf, this horrifying thought spurring him forwards as he managed to spot Don's inert body lying on the floor right where he had left him. He could see the blood that had pooled around his brother's body.

Mikey choked back his grief and with fearful determination, he reached down and pulled Don's body up and over his shoulder. He looked behind him and saw the zombies inching closer to them, and the furious werewolf coming right at them. Mikey turned around and darted towards the bathroom, which was the only room he could think of besides the lab that had a door that could be locked. He swung the bathroom door open, slamming it close and locking it behind him. He set Don down gently into the bathtub and climbed in with him, closing the curtain and turning off the flashlight.

He held Don in his arms and remained silent as he heard the growling and moaning get worse. Mikey could smell the waste in the toilet, drifting up and assaulting his nostrils.

Mikey closed his eyes tightly and rocked back and forth with his brother, praying that his nightmare would soon end.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Like i said, I'll try my best to finish the stories i have. You can guarantee me, Amonraphoenix, and DarkUnderworld will finish this story. So i'm still kind of here until this story finishes, but when it does I'll try to get farther into my other stories, but no new stories :(.**_

**_**Maybe it wasn't the last time... Enjoy!**  
><em>**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

Leo paced back and forth with agitation as he rubbed his chin worriedly. His mind was consumed with nothing but worry, fear and trepidation regarding his two brother's Michelangelo and Donatello. Donnie's screams just before they were cut off was stomach churning; so much so that Leo almost threw up, as an all-consuming fear consumed him, ripping through his stomach and churning the meagre contents around. He knew that his brother's had survived the earthquake, but now he was unsure if they survived the aftershock.

Leo stopped pacing and stared out the window, the brisk early December day dawning bright as the police, city crews and civilians cleaned up the streets, and searched for the injured or the dead. But because of multitude of people roaming the streets, had kept himself, and Raph from rushing to the lair to help search for their own brothers. The journey to the lair was too risky to attempt.

This fact and the impotent inability to do anything to help their brothers filled Leo with hot, sticky waves of betrayal and fear that swirled and rose around him, stealing the very breath from his lungs and causing his heart to constrict in fearful pain.

The need to act, the need to charge out to see if their brothers were still alive was overwhelming. It took every ounce of his willpower not to go running from April's apartment; abandoning every single rule and code their father had instilled within him since they could walk.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Raph roared in frustration.

April and Leo stared at him in shock. "And what do you suggest we do, Raph?" Leo asked his brother wearily, already knowing his brother's answer and having to restrain his own urge to agree with what his brother was about to say.

"Get the hell out of here and go help Mikey and Donnie!" Raph yelled angrily as he launched himself off the couch and began to pace, his sais held within a white knuckled grip, as if they were somehow comforting to his brother.

"We can't risk being seen(,) Raph." Leo mumbled the words not believing them any more than Raph would.

"So you just want to stay here while Mikey and Donnie could be lyin' there dyin', buried beneath tons of rubble, all alone in the lair?" Raph ground out through clenched teeth. "They might be even...dead... !" Raph choked out at such a painful thought.

"It isn't safe, Raph." April said reasonably. "The streets are in chaos, there are too many people, officials and military walking around and the buildings are structurally unsafe. If you go out there someone could see you, and it may be military that sees you and captures you or shoot you. Or a building could collapse on you and if any of those things happened to you, you wouldn't be able to help Mikey or Donny." April finished in a faint, fear and worried filled voice.

"Then what the hell are we going to do?" Raph snarled out, his frustration and fear for their younger brothers palpable.

"There's not much we can do right now but wait. We don't know how extensive the damage to the lair is and we don't know how much rubble is blocking the tunnels leading to the lair and the entrance into our home." Leo tried to keep his voice calm even though each word he spoke shot a new wave of choking fear through him.

"So that's it? That's your great plan? We wait it out?" Raph spat out angrily as he glared at Leo whose own temper was simmering hotly, just below the surface. " Or have you forgotten that it's the first week of December, and the temperature at night is freezing." Raph shouted as he pointed a finger at the living room window that was covered in a light layer of fresh snow.

"Raph, none of us like this situation any more than you do…but Leo's right we have to wait it out" April said as she quickly dashed away tears that had begun to roll down her cheeks.

Raph stopped pacing as he glared at everyone who was assembled in the room. Leo could see the waves of anger and fear that were radiating around his brother, but there was nothing they could do. April was right, there were too many people outside to risk sneaking around.

Leo stepped towards his hotheaded brother. "We'll wait until tonight, when it's dark and the crowds die down a bit, then we'll be able to make our way back to the lair hopefully unobserved and unimpeded by the humans." Leo said firmly, trying to get Raph to calm down and accept his judgment, even if none of them agreed with it, including himself.

Leo's heart leapt into his throat in shock as Raph kicked April's dining room chair, causing it to flip over and clatter noisily to the ground in pieces. "Fuck that!" Raph shouted hoarsely, "I'm going to rescue Mikey and Donny!" He yelled angrily as he turned and walked to the window, placing his sais in his belt and sliding the window open, "You might not care about them, but I do" Raph accused, the stinging remark striking Leo straight through the heart and twisting painfully.

"Raph!" Leo shouted, his voice nearly breaking with repressed despair and hurt.

Raph swung his leg over the window and was about to step out, but a voice made him stop.

"Raphael!" Master Splinters voice snapped out sternly.

Raph took a steadying breath and then slowly turned his head, seeing his father standing at the end of the hallway.

"Return" Their father barked sharply.

Raph grunted, seemed to think about ignoring their father's order and then with his shoulders slumping in defeat swung his leg back into April's apartment reluctantly.

"Kneel…my son" Master Splinter ordered softly but with a hint of steel in his voice that brooked no opposition.

"Come on Mas-" Raph tried anyway.

"Kneel!" Master Splinter snapped abruptly.

Raph sighed and then fell on both knees hard.

Master Splinter took a calming breath before speaking, "I know you are worried about Michelangelo and Donatello, we all are," Master Splinter glanced at Leo before continuing, "But we cannot risk you or Leonardo being hurt, injured or taken by a rash decision. We must remain strong and together."

"But Master, the longer we wait, the more chance they have of dying." Raph said his voice breaking with worry. His earlier anger had vanished under the crushing weight of helplessness.

"You must not think like that, Raphael." Master Splinter said calmly as he placed a comforting hand on Raph's shoulder. "Your brothers are strong and smart, they have survived more troubling and dangerous situations. They have each other, they will be okay." Splinter said in firm confidence.

Silence quickly settled throughout the apartment like a heavy blanket, each consumed with their own chaotic thoughts.

"How do you know?" Leo finally asked the question they had all been wanting to ask, but were too afraid to ask.

Splinter slowly looked up at him, then sighed tiredly, "I don't" He replied truthfully. Worry falling heavily upon Leo's shoulder at the two small words. "But I am hopeful that this is indeed the case." Master Splinter hastily reassured his son's and their friend.

"Have you tried meditating to contact them?" April asked softly as she wrapped her arms around herself as if seeking comfort and not being able to find any.

"Yes, I was able to get fragments from Michelangelo, merely small desperate thoughts, but he would not answer my repeated calls. But with Donatello, I was unable to contact him at all, though I am unsure as to why." Master Splinter admitted, a hint of worry entering their father's voice.

"Can you try Michelangelo again?" Leo asked in desperate hope.

"I will try…but I cannot promise anything." Master Splinter replied softly as he turned around and walked slowly back in to April's bedroom.

April gave Leo a worried look and then followed Master Splinter, leaving him and Raph alone.

The silence in the room became oppressive. Leo could hear Raph's short, quick anger breaths as his brother seemed to struggle with himself. Leo felt as though he should break the suffocating silence and the thick tension that floated around his brother and himself, but he was unable to think of anything to say, his mind too full of fear and worry.

"I'm sorry." Raph finally grumbled out his voice sounding strained with apprehensive worry and guilt.

Before Leo was able to speak Raph continued. "It's just... knowing that Mikey and Donnie are down there right now, trapped, scared and possibly badly hurt; it…it makes me feel like I am going to lose my mind if we don't do something right now! I ain't good at waitin' Leo, you know that."

Leo didn't reply to his brother's words, just waited until his brother finished what he needed to say.

"I didn't mean to say what I said." Raph said gruffly. "I know you care about us and I had no right to tell you that you didn't." Raph swallowed hard, trying to keep the wretched misery and fear from his voice. "I need to know that they're still alive." Raph croaked out sadly in a small broken whisper.

"I know you're scared, Raph" Leo began softly, "But... I'm here…and so are Master Splinter and April. We'll rescue Mikey and Donnie, they're fine." He told his brother comfortingly needing to believe his own words.

Raph nodded, trying to keep the tears that had welled up in his eyes from falling. "But what if they're not?" Raph asked harshly, his anger rising to cover the misery and uncertainty that plagued his heart.

Leo exhaled slowly and then inhaled, "I just…I can't think that they aren't okay, because if I do I won't be able to function anymore. I will be useless and they need us." He insisted.

Raph dragged shaking fingers down his face as he tried to control his helpless anger. "I…I can't stop thinking about the phone call." He admitted miserably as he looked up at his older brother.

Leo slowly inhaled and exhaled, walked up to Raph, and held his hand out toward his still kneeling brother. Raph looked at the hand and then up at his brother. Leo as he had the perfect view of the glimmering tear drop as it slid out of Raph's eye and rolled down his cheek.

Raph finally grabbed his hand and lifted himself up, wrapping his arms around Leo's shoulders and squeezing him tightly in a big bear hug.

"I'm so sorry Leo…I'm so sorry," Raph said quietly.

"It will be okay Raph." Leo whispered back softly, nuzzling his cheek against the top of Raph's head and closed his eyes as they both silently wept out their despair and helplessness on each others shoulders.  
>*********<p>

Mikey rocked back and forth, holding the limp body of his brother while muttering softly to himself. "They aren't real, they aren't real, I'm just hallucinating. I'm just hallucinating."

He clenched Donnie more tightly, wanting him to come back and tell him that everything was going to be OK. But his brother remained still and unresponsive in his arms as Mikey began to shiver with cold.

He shifted slightly in the bathtub, trying to take his mind off of the gruesome hallucinations that he was experiencing. He covered his nose in disgust as the rank fumes of the liquids in the toilet permeated his nostrils. It was horrible not being able to flush. The pungent stench just sat there and lingered around in the bathroom, making it smell like an outhouse.

Mikey shifted his position again, not able to find one that he could manage to stay in and remain comfortable. He ran his hand down Don's arm and grabbed his brother's cold, limp hand. Holding Don's hand he could feel the cold drifting from his brother's hand into his own. He bit his lip, feeling his heart crumble and shatter into pieces.

Don was dead. He really was…dead.

Mikey couldn't stop the flood of tears that began to roll unabated down his cheeks. After years of seeing Donnie every single day; talking with him, playing video games with him, fighting alongside him, and just being with him. Now he was gone, just like that. And there was nothing that he could have done to prevent his brother's death.

He inhaled sharply, "I'm so sorry, Donnie." Mikey said wretchedly as he hugged his brother's body tighter to his own. "I am so, so sorry. It should have been me. You pushed me out of the way, but it should have been me that got killed. You're dead because of me." He choked out as tears of despair dripped from his chin to land on his brother's cheek, where they rolled quietly down to pool on his still neck.

"_Michelangelo"_

Mikey's head snapped up as he looked around in horror for the source of the ghostly voice.

"Hello?" He ventured shakily.

"_Michelangelo? Can you hear me?" asked the now very familiar voice._

Mikey's eyes widened in shock in recognition of his father's gentle voice. "Master?... Father?" Mikey croaked out in disbelief and distrust.

"_Yes Michelangelo," Master Splinter confirmed calmly with obvious relief in his voice._

"Is…is this for real?" Mikey stammered, unable to believe that his father was actually talking with him.

"_Yes my son," Master Splinter replied steadily._

"No…No." Mikey shook his head wildly in disbelief. "This is just another stupid hallucination." Mikey hissed angrily.

"_Michelangelo…trust me…it really is me." Master Splinter reassured him._

"…Father?" Mikey choked out softly, tears of misery continuing to fall from his eyes.

"_It is alright my son, I am here…There is no need to be frightened. Are you okay my son? Are you hurt?" Master Splinter asked._

Mikey inhaled sharply, "Yeah" he said quickly, "Yeah I'm…I'm hanging in there. I'm not hurt too badly."

"_Good." His father's voice said softly before continuing. "Michelangelo… Do you know where Donatello is?" His father asked, his voice laced with worry and fear._

Mikey sniffed, "He...he...he's" Mikey managed between choked, heart wrenching sobs that prevented him from speaking the words he dared not say.

"_Michelangelo?" Splinter insisted worriedly._

Mikey sobbed harder, "He's dead... he… Donnie's dead" Mikey placed his palm on his forehead and sobbed uncontrollably.

He lay in the deafening silence of the bathroom, clutching his big brother tightly and, crying into his dead brother's icy cold shoulder in despair.

"Father?" Mikey asked desperately, but heard nothing but silence.

"Sensei? Are you there?"

Nothing but silence.

Mikey began to sob, "Please…come back father…Don't leave me alone" Fresh warm tears rolled down Mikey's cheeks as he begged his father to keep talking to him. But Splinter wasn't responding, leaving Mikey alone once again.

**********  
><strong>"_He's dead…he…Donnie's dead." Michelangelo choked out between heart wrenching sobs._

Master Splinter snapped his eyes opened, breaking the connection and losing Michelangelo instantly. He froze, saying and doing nothing.

"Sensei?" Leo asked softly seeing the indecision reflected in Master Splinter's eyes as he entered the room with Raph trailing behind him.

Master Splinter's eyes moved across the room and finally locked onto Leo's worried ones.

Leo stared at his father, unable to understand the empty look that had fallen over his father's features until he saw the single tear trickle down his father's furry cheek.

Leo's heart seized and then shattered as he looked at his father desperately.

"Donatello," Master Splinter whispered very softly in a broken voice.

He didn't need to say anymore, Leo fell to his knees in grief, letting out a violent howl of raw grief and anguish as hot tears scored his cold, pale cheeks.

"**NO!**" Leo cried out loudly.

"Donnie? Oh God no…No!" Raph roared in denial as he slammed his fist repeatedly into the wall of April's bedroom. "**NO GOD PLEASE!**" Raph screamed as he wiped the tears from his own pale cheeks.

April fell against the wall and collapsed into the corner, weeping softly to herself.

Master Splinter closed his eyes in misery at the knowledge that one of his sons was dead, and another was trapped, frightened and alone; save for the corpse of his deceased brother. The despair was overwhelming, the fresh, raw grief of his remaining sons and their friend was too much to bear. He hung his head in anguish and gave into the silent tears that trickled down his wet, fur covered cheeks.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hello again! **_

_**Same old same old.**_

**_Me_**

**_Amonraphoenix!_**

**_DarkUnderworld!_**

**_So expect some trouble!  
><em>**

**_Especially in this one!_**

**_Enjoy!  
><em>**

* * *

><p>Silence.<p>

Nothing but dead silence.

Hearing nothing but the sound of heavy breathing.

Cold.

So cold that you can feel it in your insides.

Mikey closed his eyes and breathed slowly, pretending that he was somewhere better; somewhere where Don was still alive and Leo, Raph and Splinter were here.

He wanted more than this. He wanted to feel happy and alive again.

He shifted in the tub and tightened his hold on Don's; his brother's cold skin rubbing against his own. The mixture of death and the freezing temperature of the lair was making Don's body feel like a block of ice.

Mikey wiped at his burning eyes with the back of his hand. He closed his eyes and realized just how exhausted he was. He snapped his eyes open.

"I…I can't go to sleep" He mumbled to himself.

"Why?" A voice asked him curiously.

Mikey was too tired and hurt to be surprised by the voice. He moved his hand up Don's chest and felt his brother's throat, checking a pulse and found nothing.

"Be…Because…I might not wake up" Mikey answered tiredly.

"But isn't that what you want?" The voice inquired.

"Wh-what?" Mikey stammered softly in confusion.

"You're in pain, you're holding the corpse of your dead brother and the rest of your family is waiting for the inevitable. They aren't coming to rescue you. Don't you just want it all to end it?"

Mikey felt his heart begin to race. "No. I…I can't think like that." He said in denial.

"You have to. There's no other choice" The voice said to him persuasively.

Mikey exhaled, knowing that the voice was telling him the truth. "You're…right." Mikey agreed as he slumped back in defeat, closing his eyes.

"That's right, Mikey. Sleep. Believe me, you'll feel much better." The dark voice whispered soothingly.

It didn't take long for Mikey to feel the effects of exhaustion slide over his body, numbing him, and slowly overtaking his whole body. The dark, cold hands of oblivion wrapping Mikey within its icy embrace; perfectly aware that he may not ever wake from this sleep.

…

Mikey opened his eyes at the sudden deluge of water that hit him in the face. He jerked his head to the left and right before he realized that he was still in the bathtub.

"W-What?" He sputtered out in confusion as he shook the water from his face and trying to find the source of the water. He looked up and saw that the water was spraying out from the shower head, the glare of the bathroom lights blinding his tired eyes. Mikey looked around the bathtub for Don, but saw he was alone.

"Don?" He questioned in confusion.

There was no response to his shaky question.

Mikey frowned in confusion and worry as he pushed himself up and turned off the tap. He pushed the shower curtains aside and looked around the bathroom. It was empty, but he saw an orange towel lying on the toilet, just as it was every time Mikey took a shower.

He stepped out and grabbed the towel, quickly rubbing it across his cold drenched skin. Once he was dry enough, he threw the towel on a hook and walked to the door, grabbing the doorknob and swinging the door open. He stood and gaped in shock at the sight that greeted his eyes on the other side of the door.

The lair.

But it was normal.

Lit, clean, and exactly how it was before the earthquake had demolished it and turned it into a tomb.

"Hello?" Mikey called out.

No one answered. He walked into the middle of the lair and looked around. The second floor was still standing, not laying in a collapsed heap of rubble on the floor. His gaze strayed to the kitchen, Don's lab, everything was untouched.

But something inside Mikey slid around darkly, giving him a distinctive feeling of wrongness that burned through his senses. "Hello?" He called out again, feeling an ominous emptiness inside his heart.

He ran to Don's lab and looked inside, hoping to see Don puttering around inside working on something. But it was empty. "Come on" He said desperately, then ran upstairs to Raph's room. He literally kicked it open, desperately searching the inside.

Empty.

Leo's room.

Empty.

Don's room.

Empty.

Mikey leaned up against wall, holding his palms against his eyes, trying to stop the river of tears from making their way from his eyes to trail down his cold, pale cheeks.

He slid down the wall and sat on the ground, burying his face in his arms. He whimpered, wanting everything to go back to normal.

Then he heard the door of the lair open and voices boomed throughout the lair.

"That was good Raph, but you're jump kick could use some adjustment."

"Yeah, yeah, but fearless over here was cheatin in that race." Raph growled lightly.

"I did not cheat, Raph, I'm just faster than you." Leo said in exasperation.

"I don't know Leo, It was a pretty close tie" Don's voice observed.

_They're just voices, they're not real. It's just another stupid hallucination messing with my head again_. Mikey thought to himself wretchedly, which only made Mikey feel worse.

"Mikey?" He heard Leo's voice call out.

Then there was silence. He heard footsteps walk up the stairs and draw closer to him. Then he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Mikey? You OK?" Raph's voice asked worriedly.

"Go away, you're not real" Mikey whimpered softly.

"What're ya talking about Mikey?" Raph asked confused.

Mikey opened his eyes and slowly looked up. His heart jumped when he saw Raph kneeling down next to him. His jaw dropped. "Raphie?" He asked desperately.

"What's wrong, Mikey?" Raph asked gently, concern shining in his eyes.

Mikey launched himself at Raph, wrapping his arms tightly around his brother. "Oh my God! It is you," Mikey cried out in relief.

"Did I miss something?" Raph asked, surprised by the sudden intense hug from his baby brother.

Mikey looked downstairs and saw Leo, Don and Splinter looking up at them in confusion.

"Oh my God," he whispered softly, eye's tearing. He jumped up and rushed downstairs, almost knocking Leo over.

"Mikey, what happened?" Leo asked worriedly.

"The earthquake!" Mikey shouted, practically jumping into Don's arms. "Thank God you're alive! I thought you were all dead!" He cried out with relief.

"Dead?" Don questioned in shock.

"I think Mikey blew a gasket in his head." Raph exclaimed, leaning on the railing.

"No! The earthquake!" Mikey insisted. "Don't you remember?"

"What earthquake?" Leo asked in total confusion.

"The one that happened, uhh…I don't know when, but it happened!" Mikey said adamantly.

"Michelangelo, there was no earthquake," Master Splinter said gently.

Mikey looked at his father in confusion. "What? There had to have been." He said with a shake of his head as he pointed at Leo. "You, Raph and Master Splinter went out for private training and me and Don stayed behind here in the lair. Then the earthquake hit and trapped us in the lair. The power went out, we had no water, and the lair was destroyed. Then I went to get candles and I accidentally set my arm on fire, then I went blind!" Mikey said in a rush of words that practically tripped over themselves. "Then an aftershock hit and a rock fell on Don's head and killed him!" Mikey said looking at Don who cringed at how he died. "Then I saw these zombies and a werewolf. So I took Don and hid us in the bathroom. Then Master Splinter contacted me through meditation and I told you guys that Don had died. Then this voice in my head told me to end it all and that the end was coming and I should accept my death, then I fell asleep. Thats when I woke up in the shower!"

There was ear piercing silence as Leo, Raph, Don and Master Splinter exchanged confused and worried looks between them.

"Umm…Mikey." Don began slowly. "There was no earthquake."

Mikey caught his breath, looking at Don, unable to believe him. "There had to have been," he insisted.

"You said it yourself Mikey, you woke up in the shower…it was a dream." Leo told him gently.

"It was a dream?" Mikey asked in disbelief.

"It was a dream" Leo said with a nod.

"It was a dream." Mikey affirmed with himself in overwhelming relief. Mikey's head began to throb and pound.

"When we left, you said you weren't feeling good and needed a shower. You must have fallen asleep in there." Leo said to him with a slight but reassuring smile on his face.

"Heh! Only Mikey could manage to fall asleep in the shower." Raph teased lightly.

"Raphael!" Master Splinter gently scolded, then walked up to Mikey, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It was all just a bad dream, Michelangelo." He affirmed gently.

"But…it felt so real, it had to have been real" Mikey protested softly.

"You should lie down my son and get some rest" Master Splinter suggested.

"By the sound of it he's had enough in the shower," Raph chuckled.

Master Splinter shot him a warming look and then gently pushed Mikey towards the couch. "Lie down my son, I will have someone bring you some water."

Mikey nodded numbly and staggered to the couch, slumped on it and buried his face in his hands, feeling his head pounding with pain and confusion. He leaned back and sighed heavily, slowly breathing in and out.

He replayed the whole scene in his head; the earthquake, his arm, his blindness, Don's horrific death, and the terrifying hallucinations. They had all seemed so real; felt to real to be a dream.

He jumped when he felt someone sit down next to him. "Here, Mikey, drink up." Don's voice said to him gently.

Mikey removed his hands from his face and took the glass of cold water from Don's hands, chugging it down thirstily.

"So uh…in this 'dream'," Don began slowly, "I…died?" he questioned.

Mikey stopped drinking, "Yeah, you...you pushed me out of the way. You save my life and died because…because a rock fell and hit you on the head."

"Wow!" Don said surprised, "That's must have been a very intense dream you had Mikey."

Mikey shivered when he recounted the dream. The dream had felt so real, but so did this moment. He was confused and didn't know how to feel anymore.

Once he finished his water, the throbbing, pain that had been pounding just behind his eyes lessened and he felt much better. He handed the empty glass back to Don. "Thanks." He said to his brother softly.

Don looked at him with concern, nodded and then got up and walked back towards the kitchen. _Is this real?_ He questioned to himself. _Or was it another hallucination; or a dream? _He uncovered his face and roughly pinched his skin, feeling nothing more than a sharp, biting pain. _It wasn't a dream, but it could still be a hallucination._ He thought to himself bitterly. He no longer knew what was real and what was just a figment of his hopeful imagination.

The sudden need to get out of the lair rode over him, like a unstoppable wave. He felt like he needed to run, run away from everything. If he ran he might be able to figure out if this was a dream, a hallucination, or reality. But the strange thing was, he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay with his family because it was better than finding out is really was a dream and being plunged back into the nightmare he had just woken up from.

Mikey made a decision and stood up, walking to the door.

"Going somewhere?" He heard Leo ask him curiously.

"I was thinking of going for a nice run. I think it will do me some good," Mikey explained to his brother.

"Good…I'll join you," Leo answered as he clapped Mikey on the back encouragingly.

"But you just came back," Mikey protested in surprise.

"Doesn't matter," Leo replied with a smile.

Mikey returned the smile.

…

The air felt good on Mikey's skin as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, closely followed by Leo.

"You know," Leo shouted from behind. "If you keep having these bad dreams, it's going to end up hurting you."

Mikey skidded to a surprised stop, Leo stopping right beside him.

"Both physically…and mentally," Leo finished.

Mikey sighed. "It's not my fault! I just have a mind that easily drifts off into a scary world." Mikey reasoned.

"I know, Mikey. I'm not blaming you, but something has got to give." Leo said, placing a comforting hand on Mikey's shoulder.

"What can I do? Just stop dreaming?" Mikey asked.

"Well I had Don do a little research a while ago and it said that telling people about you're nightmares help them to go away." Leo began, "So when you have a bad dream, just talk to one of us, tell us about it, and it will go away."

Mikey smiled. "Thanks Leo."

"No problem." Leo said, cuffing Mikey lightly in the shoulder. Mikey twitched, expecting some pain, but felt nothing but a small twinge. He realized that the burn was gone. He felt the skin on his arm, feeling the smooth and normal feeling of his own skin. Mikey sighed happily. Everything was back to normal. He still had his doubts about it being a hallucination, but a hallucination wouldn't last this long. At least that was what he was hoping.

"Come on, we should start heading home," Leo said to him.

Mikey nodded and followed his big brother back to the lair. But still the memories of the earthquake haunted Mikey's every thought.

_"What's going on?" Mikey shouted in fear._

_"Earthquake!" Don shouted back._

Mikey twitched, closing his eyes.

_"Don, what about you?" Mikey had to scream over the loud, ear piercing noise_

_Don looked around. "Just stay there, I'll go find somewhere else."_

_"Don, NO! Don't leave me!" Mikey pleaded._

Mikey inhaled sharply, feeling his heart begin to race painfully in his chest.

_"__**DON!**__" He yelled into the suffocating darkness._

_There was no response, which made tears of fear rise up within his eyes. _

_"__**DONNIE!**__" He shouted again._

"Mikey!" Leo's voice asked with concern.

Mikey opened his eyes, staring into Leo's worry filled eyes. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah." Mikey said quickly, "I'm…I'm fine." He said, trying to convince himself of the truth of that statement.

…

Mikey looked around at his brothers as they happily devoured their dinner. He smiled, satisfied.

"Did you guys see that movie I watched earlier?" Raph asked.

"The one about the psychotic doctor who is determined to kill off the entire human race?" Don asked as he shoved a fork full of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"Yeah! That movie was weird!" Raph said with a dark chuckle.

"Yeah, remember the part when the main character was looking into a mirror and the reflection talked to him. That was creepy!" Don said.

All of them fell into silence as a strange beeping noise disturbed their conversation.

"Oh, crap that's my alarm clock" Mikey said, pushing back his chair and hurrying to go turn it off.

"Hurry back!" Leo said cheerfully.

He exited the kitchen and walked toward the stairs, when an eerie, chilling voice drifted to his ears.

"Mikey..." The hoarse voice whispered. Mikey froze, staring at the lair door. He closed his eyes and instantly felt the below freezing temperature as it hit him.

He opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. He snapped his head from left to right, trying to catch even the smallest sliver of light, but found none.

"No!" Mikey moaned softly, falling to his knees in despair as the jagged pieces of small rocks dug into his skin.

"NO!" Mikey screamed in misery.

"**NO! GOD DAMMIT, NO! NOT AGAIN!**" Mikey wailed in despair.

"Mikey..." The hoarse voice whispered again. Mikey's head snapped up and looked in the direction where the voice came from.

He slammed his eyes closed when a piercing, bright and penetrating light lit up the whole room. He covered his burning eyes. "What the hell!" He shouted in shock.

"Mikey?" He heard again.

His heart pounded painfully in his stomach as he removed his shaking hands from his eyes and blinking into the bright light, saw the silhouette of his brother.

"**DON!**" Mikey shouted in amazement as he leapt to his feet, running full tilt towards his brother.

His toe suddenly connected with the leg of the couch, bending it upward unnaturally and fracturing it instantly. Mikey yelped in agony then fell forward unnaturally. Before he could catch himself, his head slammed painfully against the coffee table. He hit the ground, ears ringing, eye's rolling up into the back of his head. A thin stream of blood trickling out from the corner of his mouth.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Same ol same ol**_

_**Me, Amonraphionex, and DarkUnderWorld**_

_**Enjoy**_

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

"NO!" Raph shouted, standing up. "FUCK THIS!" He yelled and charged out of the room.

"Raph!" Leo shouted, tear streaks staining his face as he stood up and ran after Raph.

He watched as Raph ran into the living room, picked up April's dining room chair, Raph screamed at the top of his lungs, and threw it at the window shattering the glass into tiny, sharp shards of broken glass.

"RAPH!" Leo shouted in shock as he ran up to him just as Raph tried to climb out of the broken window. "RAPH WHAT HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Leo shouted, wrapping his arms around Raph's chest and pulling him back in.

"I'M SAVING MY BROTHERS!" Raph shouted in a furious rage.

"YOU CAN'T! HE'S DEAD, RAPH!" Leo shouted.

"NO WE CAN SAVE HIM!" Raph insisted, reaching for the window again. "LET ME GO! HE NEEDS US!" Raph tried to slip out of Leo's grip.

"RAPH, PLEASE STOP!" Leo cried out in protest.

"NO!" Raph reached his hand for the window. "DON! NO GOD, NO!" He screamed as he broke down and fell to his knees on the floor. Leo still wrapped around his grief stricken brother, hugged him tighter as they both wept out their grief over their genius brother's tragic death.

…

Leo stared out into gloomy and depressing midnight sky. He looked down at the road and saw it still infested with police cars. It was almost one o'clock in the morning. _What the hell are they still doing out on the streets? _He asked himself with bitter, helpless anger. _They could be going to get Mikey and… Don._

Fresh tears fell from his eyes at the thought of his younger brother_. He can't be dead... he just can't be. _He thought to himself with desperate denial. But no matter how many times he thought this thought or said it out loud, he knew deep in his heart that it had to be true. And that his younger brother was truly dead.

"Leonardo." Master splinter's calm and soothing voice echoed through the room.

Leo didn't respond. He just turned his head, letting his father know that he was listening.

"You should get some sleep my son." His father suggested softly.

"I'm fine." Leo responded quickly.

"But my son, you-" Master Splinter started before Leo interrupted him.

"I said, I'm fine!" Leo snapped, there was a tense moment of silence as Leo slowly turned his head back to the window and continued looking at the sky. He heard Master Splinter sigh sadly and walk back towards April's bedroom.

Leo turned his head to see if Master Splinter was gone and saw that he was. He was alone. He sighed and looked out the window once again.

April was asleep on the couch, and he heard Raph tossing and turning in the guest room, probably not asleep yet.

Leo felt his insides tremble with fear, guilt, and for some reason hatred. After some consideration, he came to the conclusion that he was to blame for Don and Mikey being trapped in the lair alone. It was his and Raph's fault because of their stupid arguing and fighting had made Master Splinter take them topside for 'Extra training'. _Stupid extra training. _He thought bitterly. If Leo and Raph never argued about the stupidest things, Master Splinter wouldn't have taken them topside. They would have been with Mikey and Don, and they would have got through it together.

But because they had been topside; Mikey was alone, and Don was dead.

Dead.

No matter how much this thought seemed real somehow it felt more unreal. It felt like Raph, Leo, and Master Splinter is visiting April and Mikey and Don were in the lair just hanging out. But every time Leo thought that the events that had occurred were not real, the reality of Don's death kept hammering away in the back into his head. Slowly ripping and tearing at his very soul.

"Hey." A low and hoarse voice said.

Leo turned his head, unable to see Raph in the dark. "Hey." he responded quietly.

"Can't sleep either?" Raph asked in a low growl.

"…I don't want to." Leo admitted.

Raph sighed and walked up next to him. Staring out of the window. "What are we going to do?" Raph asked softly, a note of desperation in his voice.

Leo let a breath of air out. "I don't know," he said with a faint shake of his head, his mind numb and blank. "What do you think, Raph?

Raph stayed quiet for a second. "I have no… fucking idea." His brother finally growled.

Leo chuckled bitterly at the answer. He inhaled, wondering if he would ever be able to actually laugh again.

"I know what you're thinking." Raph began softly, as though he'd wanted to say something important that had been on his mind for a while.

Leo turned and looked at his brother's, wretched, pale, tear stained face.

"This isn't your fault." Raph muttered softly.

Leo bit his lip, not wanting Raph to continue.

"I know you're blaming yourself, it's something you always do." Raph said.

Leo wiped the fresh tear that trickled down his face and turned away from Raph, walking in the opposite direction.

"Leo!" Raph called softly.

"Go away!" Leo snapped defensively.

"NO!" Raph growled as he reached out and grabbed Leo's arm pulling him to a stop. Leo reluctantly turned and met his brother's furious gaze.

"Why do you always feel like everything is your fault?" Raph asked harshly.

"I don't want to talk about it." Leo said, turning away and walked into the hallway.

"Don't walk away from me." Raph snapped angrily.

Leo stopped, anger churning and boiling up within his stomach.

"This isn't your fault… none of it is… alright?" Raph said gripping Leo's arm tightly.

"Then whose fault is it?" Leo asked angrily.

"No one's! Why can't you just accept that it was no one's fault?" Raph asked in exasperation.

Leo looked at Raph, "Master Splinter said that I had to look after my brothers, that I was the leader, that I had to protect them. And now one of them is dead, and the other is stuck in the dark, alone, terrified… he might be dying for all I know... I'm sorry but I cannot live with that. "Leo answered as his voice broke with guilt ridden grief.

"So you're saying that you caused the earthquake?" Raph asked in frustration.

"No!" Leo growled.

"Then how is this your fault?" Raph asked as he let go of Leo's arm.

Leo glared back at his brother. "BECAUSE I WASN'T THERE FOR THEM!" He yelled in a grief riddled voice.

Silence swept throughout the entire apartment. April jerked awake and Master Splinter broke his concentration in meditation.

Raph stared at Leo in shock, unable to find the words that would be able to comfort his brother. Leo continued. "If I was there for them," he began softly. "Don would still be alive… and Mikey... Mikey wouldn't be alone or scared. We would all be there together!"

Raph watched as tears formed and rolled down Leo's cheeks as he shakily continued. "But I wasn't… I wasn't and… Don's dead" He cried out in emotional pain as more tears fell upon his cheeks, trickling down to his chin before rolling down his neck onto his plastron. "He's dead… He's..." Leo couldn't continue, he fell to his knees and balled his fists into his knees. Raph quickly ran to him and wrapped his arms around his shaking shoulders.

"I can't do this, Raph." Leo choked out between sobs.

"Shhh... Shhh..." Raph soothed, looking up, he saw Master Splinter standing in the doorway, watching them.

Leo buried his face into Raph's shoulder and softly wept.

….

Leo opened his eyes, the sun slanted through the window and beamed upon his face. He growled in anger and turned over, he looked at the time. Almost two o'clock in the afternoon. He groaned and stared at the wall, remembering last night and the events that burned a hole through his heart. Leo felt low, lower than dirt; and knowing that nothing in the world could bring a smile to his face because Don was dead.

And he still blamed himself for losing a brother.

He felt like crying, but it was like he had no more tears to shed. He clenched his teeth and rolled around in the bed, feeling like going back to sleep. But he couldn't. He groaned and sat up in bed. He looked out the window and saw that the police, military and civilians still roaming around the streets. Leo was filled with instant rage. He grabbed a pillow and launched it at the window.

"Go home!" He shouted angrily.

"Leo." A voice called from the doorway.

He sighed and flopped back into bed, burying his head in the pillow.

"Leo, get out of bed." Raph growled.

Leo groaned in resistance.

"Come on, bro." Raph insisted more gently.

Leo groaned again, not wanting to move.

He heard Raph sigh and walk out into the hallway.

Leo turned his head to the wall and thought about doing something, but what was the point? He wondered. The humans weren't going anywhere, and probably wouldn't clear the streets until they became safe. Leo had to acknowledge to himself that it could take days, weeks even for that to happen.

Don was dead, and most likely, Mikey was not far away from entering the same state. _So what's the point_? He asked himself in bitter helplessness.

"Leonardo." Master Splinter soothing voice called.

"What!" Leo growled angrily.

"Please… we need your help." Master Splinter's frail and weak voice asked him pleadingly.

Leo forced himself up and looked at Master Splinter. The misery was craved into his father's face. His body shook and his grey fur looked greasy and matted. He seemed to have aged twenty years in a matter of a few hours.

Leo slowly got out of bed and tiredly walked past Master Splinter, almost pushing him out of the way. He wearily walked into the living room and slumped down on the couch, taking the pillow in his hands and hugging it closely to his chest.

Raph looked at Leo worriedly, events from last night still prominent in his mind.

Leo sighed and looked out the window. Master Splinter staggered into the living room and carefully sat down in the dining room chair that Raph had kicked and threw at the window. Leo looked at him worriedly, then at Raph. Leo bleakly realized that Master Splinter and Raph were most likely his only surviving family that he had left. This thought made Leo want to break into a fresh round of tears, but knew that he had no more to shed. He dejectedly looked at the ground, feeling helpless and beyond useless.

The apartment door opened and April walked through her door and gently closed it behind her.

"April! How bad is it?" Raph asked quickly.

"You guys want the good news or bad news?" April asked, noticing Leo on the couch and looking at him worriedly.

"God… bad news, how much worst can it get!" Raph said with grim apprehension.

"The street where the lair is located, is completely blocked off." April said.

"What!" Raph exclaimed in surprise.

"Why?" Master Splinter asked, his voice shaking with worry that the lair could have been found.

"Because they had some structural engineers check the buildings and found that most of the buildings in that area are considered structurally unsafe. They could come down at any moment." April told them nervously.

"Shit!" Raph muttered.

"Raphael." Master Splinter snapped tiredly.

"Sorry, Master." Raph apologized quickly.

"What is the good news?" Master Splinter asked quietly.

"Well, they said that there was a water main break and the water has been shut off until they can clear the debris and fix the pipes." April explained.

"So...?" Raph asked in confusion.

"So, right now they have guys down there trying to clear the tunnels." April said with excitement.

"That is good news!" Master Splinter, said nodding slightly.

"What's the point?" Leo asked in a quavering voice.

A stunned silence spread throughout the apartment; April, Master Splinter and Raph gawked at Leo with shock and disbelief.

"What do you mean by that?" April asked uneasily.

Leo looked up at them. "I mean Don's already dead… Mikey... Mikey's going to die soon any ways. So what's the point in trying?" Leo asked bitterly.

Leo watched as his father's eyes filled with grief-stricken tears of heartbreak upon hearing these words.

Raph looked pointedly at April and Master Splinter.

April nodded in understanding. "Umm… Splinter, let's go make some tea." April said in a shaky voice as she blinked back tears of anguish and grief. She gently helped Master Splinter up and took him into the nearby kitchen, leaving Leo and Raph alone.

Raph walked to the window and looked out. "I'm going to give you five seconds to explain what the fuck was going through your head when you said that." Raph roared as dark waves of fury radiated around his younger brother.

"Raph… Think about it." Leo began his voice a little above a whisper, defeat lacing each bitter word that left his lips. "They've been down there for days, food has probably run out and there is no water… Mikey's suffering down there… and by the time we get down there... he'll be dead." Leo choked out wretchedly.

"So you're just going to give up?" Raph shot back at his brother in shock and disbelief. "You're just going to give up on your baby brother without a fight!" Raph growled, his anger rising with every word spoken.

"I see no other option." Leo muttered dejectedly.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Raph yelled. "Mikey needs us and you're talking about giving up on him?" Raph roared, shocked that Leo would even consider this.

Leo was silent as he glumly stared at the floor.

"I can't believe you… How can you just give up on your brother so easily?" Raph bellowed in fury.

Leo threw the pillow down and stood up. "They're dead… just accept it and move on!" He snapped angrily as he turned to walk back to the bedroom.

"You son of a bitch!" Raph shouted as he grabbed a book from April's bookshelf and launched it at the back of Leo's skull, hitting his brother hard on the head with the spine. Leo raised his hand up and rubbed the tender spot on his head, before turning around and glared at Raph angrily.

"I don't even know who you are anymore." Raph hissed softly.

Leo's anger overflowed from a deep well that was too full of anguish, guilt and sorrow to take any more. He charged at Raph and threw a right punch. Raph dodged and tackled Leo to the ground. Raph threw his hand up and swung it hard at Leo's jaw. Leo yelped and smacked Raph with the side of his fist. Raph fell off of Leo and Leo tried to get up. Raph grabbed Leo's foot and pulled, making him fall back to the ground. Leo growled in anger and smashed his foot into Raph's face.

Raph snarled and put his palm against his nose, feeling the blood trickle out between his fingers. Raph roared and jumped at Leo. Leo moved out of the way, grabbing Raph's sai from his belt and swung upwards. Raph landed on his knee, looking at the ground, and breathing heavily.

Raph shakily stood up and looked down at Leo. Leo's eyes widened as he saw the cut on Raph's shoulder.

"Who are you" Raph growled softly. "Because you ain't my brother."

Leo flicked his wrist and readied the sai. Raph exhaled in shock, then slid out the other sai, holding it firmly in his hand. Then after a second of staring, they ran at each other. Raph painfully cut Leo's plastron and Leo missed his attack. Leo clenched his teeth, trying to ignore the pain. "You wanted this?" Raph asked angrily.

Leo shouted and then ran at Raph. Raph countered the attack and sliced up, cutting his arm. Leo looked at Raph with shock. "This was you…not me" He growled. Then Leo ran at Raph with the sai, Raph blocked the sai, "YOU DID THIS" Raph screamed as he kicked Leo away, "THIS WAS YOU, NOT ME". Leo jumped up and tackled Raph against the wall, Raph smashed his elbow into Leo's head, then felt Leo's foot hit him in the plastron sending him flying into the wall.

"GUYS STOP!" April shouted from the side lines.

"BOYS!" Master Splinter said sternly trying to stop the bloody fighting before someone was seriously hurt. But Raph and Leo were too deep in their own little world to hear them.

Raph roared and ran at Leo again, dodging the sai swing and slamming Leo against the opposite wall.

Leo drove his knee up at Raph and knocked him down to the ground. "THEY'RE DEAD RAPH! JUST ACCEPT IT!" Leo screamed.

"YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!" Raph roared, jumping up and running at Leo, gripping the sai tighter. He slammed Leo against the wall and smashed his fist in Leo's face. He grabbed Leo's neck and threw him to the ground, and kicked Leo's side before he knelt down on top of him. Pressing the tip of the sai into Leo's vulnerable throat.

"RAPH!" April shouted in horror, unable to believe what she was witnessing.

Raph stared angrily into Leo's eyes. Both were deadly silent before Leo finally tilted his head back exposing more of his throat to the deadly weapon. Pressing against it until it drew a thin stream of blood from his neck. Leo glared up at Raph as he spoke in a quiet accepting voice.

"Do you really want to lose another brother, Raph?" Leo asked eerily.

Raph's stomach dropped and turned to ice. His eyes widened in shock. He leapt up, dropping his bloody sai to the ground and backing away, unable to believe what he had almost done.

Leo and Raph stared at each other in silence, a sudden loud thump and a horrified gasp broke the tense silence.

"Splinter!" April cried out in fear.

Raph and Leo snap their heads towards April's cries. They saw Master Splinter lying on the unmoving ground, his eyes closed.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Me_**

**_Amonraphoenix!_**

**_DarkUnderworld!_**

**Three amigo's!  
><strong>

**The Three musketeer's**

**_Actually no, it's really the dynamic duo and me, the messenger boy!_  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 10<p>

"Help me, god damn it!"April screamed, tears pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks.

Leo rushed to his father's side. "Sensei! Sensei, what's wrong?" Leo shouted, trying to wake his father up. "Raph, help me!" Leo pleaded.

Raph didn't move, frozen in place by horror. His father's distress not even penetrating the haze of awfulness that clouded his thoughts at what he had almost done to Leo.

"Raph!" Leo shouted desperately.

Raph starednumblyat the ground. The shockedremembrance of what he was about to do to Leo haunted him. Leo's words played like a broken record in his head.

"_Do you really want to lose another brother, Raph?"_Leo's biting words had struck him to the core. He was a monster. A horrible bloodthirsty monster that had no right to be a part of this family, and barely any right to even live.

"RAPH!" Leo yelled again.

"Forget him! Help me get Splinter into my bedroom" April said frantically.

Leo didn't take his eyes off Raph. Leo cursed under his breath and helped April carry Master Splinter into her bedroom. Tears were running down his cheeks. "What's wrong with him?" Leo asked April as they gently lay his father on the bed.

"I don't know!" April sputtered out between shaking breaths.

Leo adjusted his father, keeping his head up as April checked his vitals.

"He's…he's not breathing!" April began to panic.

Leo thought to furiously. "Cardiac Arrest" He said, coming to the grisly conclusion.

"What?" April asked, nonstop tears poured out from her eyes.

"Do you still have those defibrillators Don gave you?" Leo asked, heart clenching in grief at Don's name.

"Yeah" April said weakly.

"Get them!" Leo commanded.

While April dug around in her closet to get the defibrillator, Leo began performing CPR on Master Splinter, trying to get the oxygen flowing through his lungs. After a couple tries, April came in with the defibrillators. Leo ripped Master Splinter's robes away from his chest. He quickly grabbed the paddles and waited for them to charge. When they were ready, Leo rubbed them together.

"Clear" He said, then placed them on his father's chest.

Master Splinter's body jumped, then rested back down on the bed. Leo, checked his father's pulse, cursed, then waited for them to charge again. Once they were ready. He did it again and checked his father's pulse. Nothing. Leo bit his lip and tried again after it was charged.

He looked up at April, "He's breathing" He said quickly closing his eyes, thankful that his father was breathing again.

April sighed in relief, "Thank god!" She exclaimed, wiping the tears from her face.

Leo sat on the bed catching his breath. His mind turning anxiously towards Raph.

"I'm going to go check on Raph." Leo said as he stood up and walked out of the room.

"Raph!" He said as he walked into the living room. He looked around concerned.

"Raph?" He called out again questioningly as his eyes sought out his missing brother. But Raph was gone.

"RAPH!" Leo cried out in anger. He felt his heart slam into the deepest pit of his stomach and walked back into April's bedroom. "Raph's gone" Leo said softly.

"What!" April exclaimed in surprise.

"Raph…He's gone, he just…left" Leo leaned up against the wall, face emotionless.

"He's gone?" April asked unable to believe that Raph could do that when his family needed him.

"I…I can't believe he left" Leo whispered sadly.

The sound of knuckles tapping on the wooden front door sounded though the apartment. April and Leo's head jerked toward the door, then to each other. April jumped up and walked out of her room, stopping at the end of the hallway.

"Who is it?" She asked nervously.

"The building inspectors." A cheery but authoritative voice answered.

April's heart dropped, she looked around nervously. "Give me a second" She said.

"Leo we need to-" She turned around and froze. Leo and Master Splinter were gone. She looked around in shock, "Leo?" She called out softly.

No response.

"Leo?" She called again a little louder.

"The door, April." She heard Leo whisper quietly out of sight.

She backed slowly away. "Ok, ok" She said quickly. Then ran to the door.

She opened it and smiled at the man. "How can I help you?" She asked.

"I'm just here to inspect the building," He saidin a placating voice. "Shouldn't take long." She nodded nervously and allowed him in. He walked in and looked around, then walked into the kitchen, looking at the ceiling.

"So uh, if you don't mind me asking, I heard some screaming and some banging earlier? Is everything alright?" He asked with genuine concern.

"Huh? Oh yeah, there was just a spider in my room, I hate those things" She lied smoothly.

"You and me both." He smiled, then began to walk into her bedroom. She uneasily followed and watched as he checked the floor, walls and ceiling.

"Hey so…when do you think the emergency crews on the streets will be finished?" April asked sheepishly. "Shouldn't take long…couple days maybe." The inspector replied.

April nodded. Sighing, she sat down on the edge of the bed. A burst of sadness and frustration blooming within her.

"But there will be more people by to come and check out the building. Checking the bathrooms, checking the small stuff. I'm here to check for any big stuff, but it seems like you're good." He told her with a friendly smile.

"Wait. So there will be more people coming into my house to look for damages?" She asked slowly, fear for her friends being discovered lacing her words.

"Yeah, is there a problem?" He asked in confusion.

"Well…not really it's just I'm probably not going to be here. I'm going to go my parent's house up in Maine, until everything dies down. " She lied.

"That won't be a problem, we'll just get a key from the manager and let ourselves in." He smiled reassuringly. "And you'll be lucky. Weather reports say we could have a huge snow storm coming this way." He told her.

She nodded timidly and bit her lip.

"Ok…well I'm done here…I'll leave you alone with the spider" He laughed and walked to the door.

April gave her best fake laugh and walked him to the door, he walked out and she closed the door behind him in relief. She sighed and leaned her forehead against the door. She then turned around "Leo!" She called out as she ran into her room. When she walked in, she saw Splinter back on the bed and Leo sitting in the chair next to him. "But how?" She asked in awe.

"We're ninjas, what do you expect?" Leo ground out ominously.

"You're good at that." She told him truthfully.

"We're supposed to be." Leo replied woodenly.

A thick silence settled between them. April walked over to Master Splinter. Leo finally broke the silence." So when you said you were going out of town, I assume you have a plan?"

"I do." April admitted, "It's obvious that we can't stay here."

Leo nodded absently.

"We're taking you two to the farmhouse. I'll call Casey and tell him to meet us there."

Leo looked at April, then back at the floor. "When are we leaving?" Leo asked softly.

"Now. Help me get Master Splinter out of bed and into the van." April ordered Leo.

…

April tapped her foot nervously, her eyes glued to the door. She glanced over into the bedroom, seeing Leo in the chair and Master Splinter on the bed. It didn't take much to get them from her apartment to her van.

Leo wore a trench coat and hat and they wrapped some blankets around Master Splinter. Leo was scary quiet, April didn't like the new silent Leo.

The door began to open, she leapt out of her seat and walked up to it. Casey walked in and closed the door gently behind him. "Hey A-"

April grabbed his shirt and dragged him into the kitchen and away from Leo's hearing.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Casey hissed.

"Listen, there are some things that you need to know before talking to Leo" April told him seriously. Casey looked at her in confused nervousness. "Like what?" He asked tentatively.

April sighed sadly, "Leo…He's like…really quiet. He...he isn't the same anymore." Casey frowned with worry. "What's wrong with him?"

April bit her lip, "Yeah…the disaster got too him and he totally…shut down"

"Why?" Casey asked. April bit her lip nervously. "Well…Don...Donnie didn't make it. Donnie's dead."

Casey's jaw dropped in shock. "Oh, God!" He leaned against the counter and covered his face in sudden grief. "No!" He said softly.

"That's not all" April cautioned.

Casey looked up at her, silent tears running down his face, scared to think what more there could be. "Donnie and Mikey are trapped down in the lair. They've been down there for some time now and…Mikey's still alive…But Leo's certain he's dead anyway."

"Why does he think that?" Casey asked, voice laced with heavy grief. "I don't know…and as you already know Master Splinter's not awake yet" April said sadly.

"What about Raph? Where the hell is he?" Casey asked angrily, after he digested the information April had given him.

April bit her lip, "Him…Him and Leo got into a big fight…they cut themselves up pretty good and…Raph held his sai at Leo's neck" Fresh tears rolled down her eyes,

"Raphael… Raph and Leo got into a big fight…they cut each other up pretty good and…Raph held his sai at Leo's neck." Fresh tears rolled down her eyes, "I could see it in his eyes…he was going to kill Leo right there…but then Splinter passed out and he got off of Leo; standing there, rooted to the spot in shock and horror at what he almost did. Me and Leo went to put Splinter in my bed and…Raph just... disappeared" April said miserably. "After that Leo just…shut down"

"Jesus Christ" Casey said with a slow shake of his head.

April covered his face and sobbed softly. Casey walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "What happened?" She asked tearfully. "I don't know…But I do know one thing" He said.

"What?" April ask.

Casey looked at her. "I know where Raph is."

…...

Casey stopped the car and got out. He didn't want to leave April alone, but Raph had to be here. He always went here when he was mad.

Casey walked into the alley and began climbing the nearby ladder. After a couple seconds of climbing, he peeked out onto the roof. And there was the red masked turtle, sitting on the air conditioner, staring up into the sky.

Casey climbed onto the building and casually walked over to Raph.

"Hey buddy," Casey said softly. Raph looked sideways at him, then back at the sky."Listen man, I know things are looking pretty bad but…we need you" Casey implored him.

"No you don't." Raph stated firmly. "Do you have any idea what I nearly did?" Raph asked his friend desperately, a hint of self-loathing in his voice. Raph continued even as Casey nodded that he knew what Raph had done to Leo. "I am a monster, Casey. They don't need me. And even if they did, what am I going to do?" Raph looked back at him, "I mean really? Don's dead, Mikey's suffering down there alone, Master Splinter could be dying and Leo's gone off the deep end…What am I going to do to fix any of that?" He questioned angrily, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Well…You're the only sane one at the moment. Casey told him truthfully. "You're the only one that can snap Leo out of his…whatever the hell it is that he is stuck in."

"He's given up on everything…" Raph told Casey softly.

Casey sighed, "Have you given up?"

"No." Raph growled fiercely.

Casey placed his hand on Raph's shoulder, "That's why we need you Raph." Casey urged.

Raph didn't move, Casey sighed heavily and walked away; leaving his friend to his troubled thoughts.

…

Leo and Casey sat in silence beside Master Splinter's bed. Casey thought about trying to talk to Leo, but then decided not to. Then April walked in with a sandwich on a plate. "You hungry?" April asked gentle, handed it to Leo.

Leo shook his tiredly head.

"You haven't eaten in at least a day…you need food."April reasoned.

"I'm not hungry." Leo whispered.

"You need to eat, Leo." April pleaded.

Leo looked up at April wearily and took the plate just to set it down next to him on the nightstand. Casey looked at Leo with sorrow. "Leo…I know this situation seems really bad, but you got to talk to us man."

Leo didn't take his eyes off of Splinter, as he stood up. "I'm going to go lay down for a bit wake me if anything happens." He asked before he walked past Casey and April and out the door. Leo stopped suddenly, eyes fixed on Raph, who stood in the middle of the main room.

"Hey." Raph said softly.

Leo looked at him in shock and surprise. "Hey." Leo responded.

"Is Splinter OK?" Raph asked worriedly.

Leo didn't respond. "Come on, Leo talk to me." Raph begged.

Leo inhaled, then exhaled deeply, then walked up the stairs and out of sight without answering.


	11. Chapter 11

So after much consideration, i have realized that i am not the messenger boy to the dynamic duo. I'm more of a water boy XD. No, i'm kidding, but we do have something new for you all. That's right, straight from Fanfiction is your very own, Jet! **_Amonraphoenix!_** And _**DarkUnderworld**! I had to bold their names because their to awesome for normal font.  
><em>

ENJOY!

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><p><span>Chapter 11<span>

It had been three days since they had first arrived at the farmhouse, and the situation hadn't improved with time. Master Splinter was still unconscious and they hadn't heard anything from Mikey, and Leo was still not talking.

Raph pushed his cereal bowl away from him and laid his head on the table, sighing deeply.

"What's wrong?" April asked worriedly.

"I'm sick and tired of just sitting here. I wish I could do something more... about everything… but there's nothing I can do." Raph growled bitterly.

"Casey's probably on his way back." April began trying to offer him as much comfort as she was able. "Who knows, maybe the work crews have finished clearing the tunnel and we can finally get to the lair." She said hopefully.

"I guess." Raph grumbled. "But what are we going to do about Leo?" Raph asked in irritation, not knowing what to do with his older brother.

April sighed. "I really have no idea. I think he just needs to hear some good news." She said.

"Well, let's hope Casey manages to come up with some." Raph mutters.

April nodded and stood up from the table, walking into the next room to check on Master Splinter.

Raph sighed, not knowing what to do. He could either sit in silence with Master Splinter in his room; go out and try to rescue Mikey; try to talk to Leo, or just sit here. Raph decided that he really didn't want to do any of them.

He grunted and stood up, walking from the kitchen, and glancing into Master Splinter's room as he passed. April was sitting beside Master Splinter's bed, trying to make him more comfortable and checking to see if he was awake yet. He felt his shoulders slump despondently as he made his way to the front of the farm house, opening the door and stepping outside. He quickly wrapped his arms around himself because of the cold. He exhaled, warming his hands and rubbing them together. It was getting colder and colder with each passing day; and he didn't even want to think about how cold it was in the lair.

He pushed the thought away and walked out into the yard, stepping into the cold grass, which crunched underneath his feet. He inhaled deeply and looked up into the sky, seeing the silver-blue color or the morning hanging low. He walked further out approaching the woods that surrounded the property, not being able to see that far through the darkened forest.

He studied the grounds surrounding the house and noticed that there were not many animals out, probably all hibernating. He sighed deeply and removed his arms, getting use to the cold. A truck pulled up and stopped near the house. Raph watched nervously as Casey got out of his truck.

Raph walked up to him. "Case…What did you find out?" He asked excitedly.

"Come inside, I want to tell both of you." He answered.

Raph nodded and followed him inside, feeling that somehow Casey was not delivering the good news that they were hoping for, and so desperately needed. They walked through the house, April rushing forward to meet them.

"Casey? What did you find out?" She asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"Well…" Casey paused looking at both April and Raph, and pausing as his eyes most likely sought out Leo, and not finding him continued. "They were still out there, clearing the tunnel."

Raph's stomach dropped a little. "And?" Raph snapped, interrupting Casey.

Casey ignored Raph's interruption, his voice relieved as a smile spread across his face. "They said that they're cleaning up tonight, and that the tunnel should be all clear by tomorrow."

"Casey, please tell me that you aren't joking!" April plead, her voice shaking with relief.

"Nope." Casey answered with a big smile.

Raph let out a relieved breath, his heart lightning somewhat as it filled with hope at the good news.

"Thank God." Raph breathed in relief.

April wrapped her arms around Casey. "So Mikey still has a fighting chance?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah… he just needs to hold on." Raph said his gaze straying up the stairs. "I'm going to go tell Leo" He said hoarsely.

"Good luck." Casey called out as Raph made his way slowly upstairs. He exhaled nervously when he stopped on the upper floor. The door at the end of the hallway was open slightly.

Raph clenched his teeth and slowly walked towards it, dreading the confrontation he knew was coming. He peeked inside and saw Leo sitting in a chair, reading.

"Here goes nothing." Raph grumbled softly to himself. He raised his hand to knock on the door, finally pushing it open and walking in when Leo didn't respond.

Raph coughed nervously. "Uhh, hey, Leo. I got some good news!" He said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Is Master Splinter awake?" Leo asked softly.

"Uh…No." Raph answered, slightly stunned at the question.

"Is Don alive?" Leo bit out viciously.

Raph felt his blood run cold at his brother's harshly asked question. A flash of grief cutting him straight through, piercing him down to the very deepest depths of his soul. "No." He managed to whisper hoarsely.

Leo said nothing after that, just letting the strained silence between them build up to uncomfortable level.

"Come on, Leo, let me just-"Raph tried to break the silence, to push his older brother out of whatever had consumed him.

"Please." Leo begged softly. "Just leave me alone".

Raph felt his heart twinge with pain, "Ok." He agreed sadly, not knowing what else to say, or what else to do. He turned walking towards the door, but his feet stopped, pulling him up short of his destination. He looked back at Leo and felt a tear roll down his cheek heart breaking in grief and desperation. "We need you, Leo, so where are you?" He whispered sadly.

Leo leaned forward, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply; almost enjoying the feel of regret and self-hatred that inflicted him.

He placed his book on the night table and stood, in one smooth motion, walked towards the still open door, and shut it. He then turned and walked back to his seat. He didn't sit, but instead watched Raph through the window.

Raph had walked outside, not going too far from the house. His brother stopped, standing there in the freezing cold; staring at nothing and not moving. Finally his brother moved, burying his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with the strength of his sobs.

Leo knew that staying silent was only making the situation worse, but for some reason, he couldn't help it. The misery was too unbearable. He wished he could go outside and comfort Raph, but he knew that he could not give that comfort, because he didn't feel that comfort within himself to actually give to his brother.

He inhaled and looked up, not wanting to look outside anymore. Instead he looked on the wall to the left. There he saw a little plastic cross with Jesus hanging on it.

He sighed and walked up to it, grabbing it off the wall and holding it in his hands. He stared into the little plastic face of Jesus. It seemed as if Jesus was looking back up at him with... sorrow. He exhaled.

"Listen…I guess you know that I'm not very religious." He stopped, sitting down on the bed, "I just… never really given much thought about it; believing in a god, praying, you know, stuff like that." He wiped a fresh tear from his cheek before continuing. "But please…if you're up there just..." Leo sighed, biting his lip. "I could use a little help here." Leo muttered softly."That's all I ask. Just give us a little help. You don't know how much we need this. My baby brother is still down there, hurt, cold, straving; he needs our help. Just please; help us out here!"

Leo could feel himself suddenly getting angry, "Or just don't help us! Better yet! Give us a break! Please! I'm begging you! Give us a damn break! I don't know how much more I can take. My family is everything to me, and my brother is dead; and my father is in a coma…Please…just... give us a break." He finished numbly.

Leo sighed and tossed the cross on the bed. He glanced outside and looked at where Raph was. His younger brother was now sitting under a tree, hands pressed against his face, still sobbing in anguish grief and frustration. The sight made Leo want to break down himself. He coughed out a soft sob, trying to stem the tide of misery that was about to overflow and consume him. Leo managed to make it to the bed before the dam of negative emotions- anger, bitterness, hate- that he had built up, finally broke. He sat down on the bed, buried his face in his palms, And began to sob.

"I'm so sorry, Raph…I'm so sorry." He choked out hopelessly.

Casey watched Raph walk down the stairs, not stopping to talk to anyone, as he made his way quickly outside.

"This has got to stop" Casey said sharply.

"Easier said than done" April answered, her voice thick with worry.

"But it has to! We can't keep going on like this!" Casey added.

"You got any ideas?" April asked softly her gaze straying to the stairs.

Casey sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "No." He answered morosely.

April shook her head and walked into Master Splinter's room, sitting next to him. She lifted his limp hand in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Master Splinter, if you can hear me... me and Casey could… could really use your help." She inhaled quickly fighting back a fresh wave of tears before she continued. "Leo and Raph…they're losing it. They're on the verge of losing all hope, and I'm scared that everything is just going to get worse." April began to sob brokenly as she looked at Master Splinter, hoping that he would wake up; but he remained motionless.

Casey stepped up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. "It's OK April, we'll find a way, we always do." He soothed.

"I know...I know, but...I can't shake this bad feeling..." She whispered wretchedly.

"What feeling?" Casey asked uneasily.

"The feeling that... that it's only going to get much worse." April predicted miserably.

With Master Splinter's hand in his own, Leo closed his eyes. "Sensei, Father, I can't…I don't know what to do. Everything I do ends in failure. We can't afford to fail anymore. So please, wake up; I need your guidance, Father." Leo gently brought Master Splinter's hand up to his cheek. "I need you." He whispered sadly.

He bit his lip, let go of Master Splinter's hand, and leaned back in his chair. Footsteps sounded inside the room. He looked over his shoulder, towards the door, and saw Raph standing just inside the doorway, a glass of water clenched in his hand.

"Hey." Raph said softly.

"Hey." Leo responded, trying to sound calm and in control.

Leo expected Raph to walk back out, but instead he walked in and sat down in the chair on the other side of the bed.

"Can't sleep either?" Raph asked casually.

"No, not really." Leo replied.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is; just can't seem to fall asleep." Raph agreed.

"Worry." Leo answered, his voice cracked slightly.

Raph looked at Leo. "Worry keeps me up." Leo explained. "Worry, fear, sadness…regret…self-hatred..." Leo's voice trailed off.

"Do I even need to ask?" Raph inquired softly.

Leo sighed tiredly. "I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

Raph chuckled bitterly. "I'll just save my breath then."

Leo gave a half smile. Silence settled over the two of them. Leo looked at Master Splinter, examining the misery clearly seen on his face parent's unconscious face.

"We're going to get Mikey back tomorrow." Raph murmured, almost too softly to hear.

Leo nodded fiercely. "I know."

"How did-" Raph began.

"Thin walls." Leo answered quickly, a lopsided smile on his face.

Raph nodded in understanding.

Leo looked from Splinter to Raph, seeing the bandage on his brother's hand.

"I'm sorry." Leo apologized softly.

Raph looked up at him in surprise.

"I'm so sorry…for everything…I don't know what I…I…I'm so sorry." Leo stuttered sadly.

"It's OK." Raph said, waving away his brothers apology.

"No, it's not!" Leo snapped angrily. "I don't expect you to ever forgive me..."

"Leo..." Raph tried to stop him.

"I mean I don't even –" Leo tried to finish desperately.

"Leo!" Raph snapped, his voice harsh. "Stop. It's OK, alright? I forgive you." Raph's voice gentled.

Leo looked at him in shock. "But why?" He croaked in confusion.

"Because Leo, you're being way too hard on yourself; you always are." Raph answered with a casual shrug.

Leo knew Raph was right, but he couldn't help the way he felt. He looked at the ground dejectedly.

"I'm sorry too." Raph put in softly.

"For what?" Leo asked in confusion.

"For running away." Raph began. "For freaking out and leaving you and April to deal with everything on your own." Raph admitted. "I just…I couldn't forgive myself for what I almost did to you."

Leo frowned, recalling the bloody fight earlier. "I probably deserved it." Leo smiled.

Raph laughed, Leo joined. It felt good to laugh again, like brothers.

They stopped and Leo patted Master Splinter's hand. "Mikey's alive." Leo said suddenly. "I know it."

Raph jerked his head toward him, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Master Splinter will be fine, he'll wake up soon. Tomorrow we'll go and rescue Mikey. We'll be fine." Leo affirmed confidently.

Raph smiled with him, a stray tear falling and rolling down his cheek.

"And…Don…well…we were too late." Leo frowned, feeling tears begin to roll down his cheeks.

"He's in a better place now." Raph added quickly.

Leo smiled sadly. "Yeah…better. A place where he can walk around in the open, and not have to worry about people being scared or judging him.

"Or dissection." Raph added impishly.

Leo chuckled darkly, "Yeah, that too."

Raph picked up his glass of water and rose it high in the air. "To Don."

Leo sharply exhaled, more tears falling as he raised his own glass into the air. "To Don." He murmured.

"For being the best damn brother a turtle could ever have." Raph added. "I'm going to miss you bro."

Leo closed his eyes, his mind flooded with images and memories of Don.

"I love ya, Donnie." Raph said, taking a drink of his water.

Leo took a sip of his water then set it back down on the night table. Both of them falling back into silence.

Some time later Leo noticed that he was falling in and out of sleep. He glanced over at Raph and found that he had fallen asleep in his chair as well. Leo smiled and looked out the window, thick fluffy flakes of snow beginning to flutter heavily down past the window pane.

Leo closed his eyes and fell asleep.

A horrified shout made April start awake. She quickly sat up in bed and looked around anxiously.

"NO!" She heard again, able to tell that it was Leo's anguish voice she heard.

She quickly got out of bed and ran out of her room. When she got to the stairs she saw Leo on his knees, sobbing hard in front of a window. Raph, sat on the floor next to him, a bleak look of grim disbelief straining his features.

April's heart stopped beating in horror as her gaze shot to the window, looking out in disbelief at the mounds of thick white snow that covered the ground. "There must be nine feet of the stuff piled up out there." She whispered in stunned shock.

His eye's snapped open as he inhaled sharply, taking in so much air at one time that his lungs felt like they might explode.

Once he exhaled, the pieces of his world began coming back together again; one tiny piece at a time.

Mikey's world was still cloaked in darkness, his head moving slightly as he inhaled once more, and moved his good arm. Mikey frowned as he felt fabric rub against it. He blinked and felt what lay on top of him.

Blankets.

He lifted his head, yelped, and then put it back down. His insides were in agonizing pain. He clenched his teeth and heard as his stomach rumble in protest.

He shifted to his side and caught his breath, it took him a minute to realize that an intense brightness was hitting him square in the face. He covered his eyes and grunted, noticing his hand. It looked as if ice had formed on it.

He moved his other hand to feel it.

"Don't touch it!" He heard a familiar voice say.

Mikey looked around frantically. "What?" His voice was hoarse and thready.

"Your hand got frost bitten." Came the answer.

Mikey blinked his eyes and noticed that the light was pointing down at the ground now, giving him a clear look at his older brother's face.

"How do you feel, Mikey?" Don asked.

"Don! Is that really you?" Mikey asked in shock.

"Who else would it be?" Don asked with a lopsided smile.

Mikey cried out, threw the blankets off of him, and wrapped his arms around Don's shoulders. "Oh God, Don, I thought you were dead"

"I thought _you_ were." Don replied.

"What do you mean?" Mikey asked in confusion, sitting up, and trying to ignore the excruciating pain that blazed through his skull.

"Well, when you saw me you got overexcited. You fractured your toe and fell, hitting your head on the table. Then you just lay there, so still and un-moving. I thought the blow to the head had killed you instantly." Donnie replied sadly.

Mikey moved his hand and felt around the back of his head, feeling the abnormally large bump. He cringed and stopped feeling it.

"Thankfully you just knocked yourself unconscious. I wrapped you in blankets, and after a couple of days I started feeding you soup and-"

"Wait!" Mikey quickly interrupted him. "Did you say a couple of days?" He asked in disbelief.

Don remained eerily quiet. Mikey finally noticed that his brother appeared much thinner than he last remembered, his skin an unhealthy shade of grey-green.

"Don…how long was I out?" Mikey asked in a shaking voice.

Don sighed, "Well…"

"Just tell me" Mikey snapped.

Don looked up at him. "Almost two weeks." His brother answered softly.


	12. Chapter 12

Now it's time for more adventure of **THE DYNAMIC DUO PLUS ONE**!

**_Amonraphoenix!_**

_**DarkUnderworld!**_

_**plus ****Me**_

_***Dramatic Music*  
><strong>_

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

Don's words hit Mikey like a steam roller. _Two weeks? How was he even still alive? _He wondered in shock. Mikey stared dumbly at Don for a few minutes before Don snapped him out of his stun trance.

"Mikey?" Don questioned softly his voice full of worry.

Mikey blinked at his brother owlishly. "How…what?" Mikey stammered, confused and frightened. Mikey's face tightened as he slowly took in Don's answer. "Donnie, how am I still alive?"

Don frowned and licked his lips, thinking about how to answer the question. "Honestly I don't know, Mikey, you must have one powerful guardian angel."

Mikey inhaled quickly and let out his breath more slowly, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart. "If it's been that long, what about food and water?"

Don chuckled sadly. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask. We're…" Don stopped, not knowing if Mikey could take the grim news.

"We're what?" Mikey asked, his voice shaking slightly.

Don sighed in resignation, "We're running pretty low… rather quickly."

Mikey took a few nervous breaths, "How much is left?" He asked, frightened of the answer.

Don rubbed his neck in agitation. "About…three days' worth."

Mikey's stomach dropped into his feet, "Three days?!" He whispered in horror.

"Calm down, Mikey, please. I don't like this anymore than you do." Don said wryly. "Just lay back down, you need your rest." Don coaxed soothingly.

Mikey slowly calmed himself down. He looked over at the flashlight that lay on the ground. Don was blocking the light from hitting Mikey's eyes. Mikey couldn't see a lot of Don, only saw a silhouette. "Give me the flashlight." Mikey asked roughly.

"What?" Don asked in confusion. "The flashlight." Mikey commanded.

Don shot him an odd look. "Why?"

"Just give it to me." Mikey said reaching out his hand.

Don frowned, reached over, and grabbed the flashlight and he handed it to Mikey.

Mikey took hold of the proffered flashlight and shined the light on Don. "Hey!" Don yelped, protecting his eyes from the bright light that suddenly assaulted him.

"Oh my God, Donnie!" Mikey gasped in shock, getting a good look at his brother's extremely emaciated body.

….

"This can't be happening." Casey said in disbelief. "It just can't be. It's like God doesn't want us to go down into the lair." Casey continued, "Every time there looks like a way out, something happens that makes the situation worse."

April nodded numbly. "I know, Casey. Can we please drop it." April pleaded.

"How can we drop it?" Casey asked in frustration. "I can't help it. I can't think about anything else!"

Casey exclaimed in frustration. "I would love to think about something…anything else, but I can't. It's like it eatin' away at the inside of my skull!"

April sighed tiredly and lay her head down on the cool wood of the battered tabletop. "Screaming at me isn't going to help anything either, Casey." April pointed out softly.

Casey sighed in resignation and sat down onto the seat next to hers. "I know, April, I'm sorry. I'm just… angry and frustrated." He murmured wretchedly. He leaned his head on April's shoulder. "We'll get through this, somehow." He promised her.

…..

Mikey gawked in shocked horror at Don's frostbitten skin. Every inch of his normally olive colored skin was laced with frost; causing it to look dark and swollen. "Don…" Mikey said in disbelief. His brother's body looked incredibly emaciated, as if someone pumped all of his insides out. Mikey was sure that if Don's plastron wasn't blocking his stomach, Mikey would be able to see each of his brother's ribs jut out.

Then Mikey thought about this, and then nervously shined the flashlight on his own body. "Oh, God" Mikey moaned softly. His own body was almost as thin as Don's, but Don's was far worse.

Mikey's own skin wasn't as badly frostbitten as Don's either; which made Mikey wonder. His angry gaze shot to Don's. "What did you do?" He hissed scathingly.

Don stared at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Mikey shifted to his elbows. "I mean…have you been screwing yourself over, just to take care of me?"

Don remained stubbornly silent.

"Don!" Mikey insisted firmly.

"I just…I needed to know you were ok." Don finally replied softly.

Mikey's anger grew, "You're killing yourself just to know that I'm ok?" Mikey shouted in exasperation. "I'm fine, Donnie!"

"At the time… I didn't know." Don replied sadly.

Mikey stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Mikey… y-you…died." Don said wretchedly.

Mikey stared at him with uncomprehending confusion. "Huh?"

Don sighed wearily. "You stopped breathing and I couldn't find a pulse. It took several minutes to revive you. At one point I thought you were truly gone for good, then you started breathing again. I fed you half of my portions just to keep you as strong as possible so that you could gain enough strength to regain consciousness."

Mikey stared at Don, unable to believe what he was hearing. "I…d-died?"

Don nodded grimly, closing his eyes in pained remembrance of feeling his brother's life slip away.

Mikey understood why Don was suffering; to keep him alive. Mikey softly ran his fingers over the back of his head; feeling the still large swollen lump. It sent shivers down his spine even thinking about it.

"I'm sorry," Mikey whispered.

Don numbly nodded. "Don't worry about it," Don replied casually.

Mikey smiled and rested his head down on the pillow. "How's your fever?" He asked with concern.

Don chuckled bitterly. "Not much better." Don admitted.

"Have you found any medicine that you could take?" Mikey asked worriedly.

Don shook his head. "The aftershock totally destroyed the bathroom, and knocked all the medicine out of the cabinet and onto the floor where most of it was crushed or contaminated."

Don heard Mikey make a small squeaking noise. He took the flashlight back from his brother and shined it on Mikey. His baby brother had curled himself into a ball, clutching at his stomach in pain.

…..

"Where are they?" April asked anxiously.

"I don't know." Casey answered. " I think they went out into the barn." Casey said.

"The barn!?" April almost shouted, "How did they get out there?"

"Umm…they walked" Casey said slowly, as if April should have understood the obviousness of the answer.

April glared. "Casey, this isn't the time for your mocking, they walked out there in the snow?"

"I'm not sure." Casey shrugged. "But they aren't in the house. So I have to think they'd be in the barn."

April quickly stood up and walked to the front window. She looked outside and saw foot prints through the deep snow leading to the barn. She shook her head and sighed wretchedly.

…..

Mikey clenched his eyes shut as he felt his stomach tighten in pain. The pains were getting worse and worse, to the point where he felt acrid bile burning at his throat. Nausea rolled through his gut, but he had nothing in his stomach to actually vomit. He took deep breaths, and did all that he could to lessen the pain. He felt Don's hand gently touch his shoulder, "Breathe, Mikey" Don soothed, "Just breathe."

Don watched as Mikey cringed in pain. He knew what his brother was going through. Don had been going through the same thing for a while. He closed his eyes, hating seeing Mikey in so much pain. "Just breathe, Mikey…take deep breaths."

"It hurts." Mikey moaned, holding his arms close to his stomach.

Don bit his lip, feeling tears start to form, "I know Mikey, just… just try to breathe through it."

…..

"What the fuck are we going to do?" Raph snarled angrily, sitting near the small fire they had built to keep warm. Leo continued to pace the barn, rubbing his chin and thinking of their options; which weren't a lot.

"I can only think of two options." Leo said, "One…stay here and wait for the snow to melt. Which could take weeks…" He continued.

"What's option two?" Raph muttered.

….

Casey stared out of window, gazing at the snow covered forest. He wondered if the snow would ever melt in time for Mikey to be saved. He hated it, but thought about their situation rationally. There was no way that the snow would melt in time. And if it was cold in the old farmhouse, Casey hated to think about how cold it was in the lair. He exhaled sadly and looked into Master Splinter's room.

April was sitting with him, dozing in and out of sleep. He smiled and walked into the room, "Hey Ape, why don't you get some sleep, I'll watch the place." Casey said.

"Wha? No… no, it's fine. I'm awake." April lied. "Come on now, I promise I'll wake you up when something happens." Casey said.

April sighed. "Fine." She said as she stood up and walked to her room.

"_If_ anything happens." Casey said sadly under his breath as he watched her walk away.

….

"Are you crazy?!" Raph exclaimed.

"Raph, do you see any other way?" Leo asked impatiently.

"What about Casey's truck?" Raph asked. I thought Casey has a truck?

"Raph, you know that it won't make it; it's practically buried." Leo explained.

Raph took a steadying breath, thinking about his other options. "There's gotta be another way." Raph said, moving his arms with exasperation.

Leo frowned. "I'm sorry ,Raph, but there really isn't." Leo admitted.

"But…we'll probably die" Raph said bluntly.

"Maybe not but, I think that with the right equipment, we'll make it. If we don't try Mikey will definitely die and I can't lose another brother."

"How can you so sure that this will work?" Raph asked, awed by his brothers confidence.

"…I…I just am." Leo stammered.

….

Casey sat and looked at Master Splinter, waiting for him to wake up. After a few minutes of nothing, he stood up and walked to the window once again. He looked out and saw his truck, an idea popping into his head.

He quickly ran into the spare bedroom, opened up the closet, grabbed the pair of snow boots, coats and gloves, and walked to the front door.

He opened it and stepped outside into the cold. He shivered and began slowly making his way to his truck. The coats didn't do much, and he regretted not grabbing some extra layers. He felt the cold on his skin, which hurt. He grabbed his truck handle and pulled the door open. After stepping inside, he shut the door and quickly warmed his arms by rubbing them.

He stuck the keys into the ignition and turned the truck on; the truck roared to life. He closed his eyes in relief. "Please let this work" He said softly to himself. He put the truck into drive and slammed on the gas. The tires spun aimlessly, "No… no… no!" Casey growled as he continued stomping on the gas usually.

"Come on" He clenched his teeth and pushed as hard as he could on the gas. Realizing that his efforts were futile, Casey stopped and leaned forward on the steering wheel. He pressed his palms against his face, feeling useless.

…..

The pain lessened slightly and Mikey stopped writhing in pain. He caught his breath and sat up. "How are you feeling?" Don asked in concern.

Mikey shook his head miserably. "Like crap." He admitted truthfully. Don chuckled grimly. "I hate to say it, but it's going to happen a lot."

"Can't wait." Mikey sarcastically remarked, rolling his eyes.

"Well, it's good to see your personality is still intact." Don joked lightly.

Mikey giggled and looked at the front entrance, seeing something out of the ordinary. "Don, let me see the flashlight."

Don's face tightened up in confusion. He handed Mikey the flashlight and he quickly flashed it towards the entrance.

His stomach rose in hope. "Don, look." Mikey exclaimed excitedly.

"That rock…it fell over!" Mikey shouted. He quickly stood up shakily and walked over to it, feeling dizzy as he did so.

"Why didn't I notice that before?" Don asked more to himself than to Mikey.

Mikey closed his eyes and waited for the wave of dizziness to pass. After it did, Mikey walked over to the buried down doors. Don walked up next to him. "What are you thinking?" He asked slowly in an unsure voice.

Mikey squinted at the opening were the lair doors were. It looked like one was broken. He walked up to it and looked inside. Mikey said something, but Don didn't quite hear what his brother had said.

"What?" Don asked.

Mikey turned around and looked at Don happily. "I can dig through here." Mikey announced proudly. "Don, were getting out of here!"


	13. Chapter 13

_**Guess what! New CHapter! WOO**_

_**Unless you didn't know this a couple chapters ago. **_

_**Amonraphoenix!**_

_**DarkUnderworld!**_

_**and that weird kid who is miraculously cool enough to hang out with the two legends of darkness! :)  
><strong>_

_**ON a brighter note, i have finished my actual novel. I am having people read it and edit it, After that its going up on the amazon Kindle website for everyone to read it. I'll let you all know when its up so if you want to read it, you'll know.  
><strong>_

_**That and school started for me BOOO! And being a senior sucks. So with that and my novel, i am literally on the verge of passing out. Lol i'll try to make the next update as quick as i can. You don't have to worry!**_

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

April sat in the chair next to Master Splinter, holding his hand gently, and pleading for God to wake him up.

The door suddenly burst open, and Leo and Raph stumbled in, clearly half frozen with cold.

"Where have you guys been?" April asked with worry and concern. She noticed Casey come down the stairs and look at the turtles in wonder.

"Casey, do you have any heavy snow gear, like jackets and pants?" Leo asked.

Casey thought for a minute. "Yeah, upstairs in the spare bedroom." He answered.

"Raph, go get the gear, and I'll go and get some supplies." Leo ordered briskly.

Raph nodded and quickly ran upstairs.

"What are you two doing?" April asked anxiously fearing the answer that she was about to receive.

Leo grabbed two large backpacks from the closet and looked at her. "Going to get Mikey." Leo answered firmly with confidence.

….

Before Don could think, Mikey was already digging his hands through the rocks, throwing them into the lair. "Mikey, are you sure that's a good idea?" Don asked worriedly.

"It's better than sitting here and dying by starvation or freezing." Mikey replied. "It shouldn't take much to get a good hole in this." Mikey said as he grabbed another rock, and tossed it aside.

"And what exactly do you plan to do when you make a hole leading into the tunnel?" Don asked curiously.

Mikey stopped and thought about his brother's question. "Haven't thought that far ahead yet." He admitted with an unconcerned shrug, continuing to work his way through the rubble.

….

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" April asked worriedly, "It's freezing outside." She added pointedly.

"What other choice do we have?" Leo asked.

April wasn't sure if Leo was being sarcastic, or it he truly believe that their insane plan was a good one.

"But you could freeze to death!" April exclaimed in horror.

Leo closed the closet door and stuffed the last of the hiking food in the back pack.

"It's better than sitting here while Mikey dies." Leo replied softly. "I won't lose another brother."

….

Raph pulled open the drawer and found four pairs of large snow pants. Raph grinned and grabbed all of them, throwing them over his shoulder and going to the closet.

"I'm not so sure I like this plan," Casey admitted honestly.

"It's our only option Case, and sitting here doin' nothin' ain't one I'm willin' to do." Raph said as he opened the closet door and spotted a few large thick, fur lined parkas.

"But hiking back to the city is just as dangerous." Casey pointed out.

"I don't care." Raph answered, spotting snow boots and gloves. "You think these will fit us?" He asked curiously.

"Maybe, but... there has to be some other way. Putting your lives on the line isn't the answer." Casey tried again to make his friend see reason.

"Case, enough. We're going out there to rescue Mikey, and that's that." Raph growled, tired of listening to his friend's advice. "I don't care what happens to me" Raph said as he walked towards the door. All I care about is savin Mikey. If I get killed trying to save' him... I'm okay with that, as long as he's safe, that's all I care about."

"But, what if Splinter wakes up and you're not here?" Casey asked, wondering how they were supposed to explain to their father that he and April had let Leo and Raph go out into the freezing cold all alone with nothing but some snow clothes and backpacks full of rations and a few supplies.

"Then tell him not to worry, because we'll be right back with Mikey and… Donnie." Raph finished softly.

"And if you don't come back?" Casey asked quietly not daring to think of the horrifying possibility, but needing to ask the question anyway.

Raph stopped, too many thoughts running through his head. _If we don't make it, he would wake up to the news that he had lost all of his sons._ Raph shuddered to himself. Raph played the whole conversation in his head; April walking in and telling Master Splinter that all of them were dead.

Raph's heart twisted in agonizing pain, "I… We have to do this, Case." Raph choked out softly as he left the room with the gear.

…..

Don sat in silence, hearing nothing but the sound of rock hitting the ground.

"Mikey?" Don called out finally.

"What?" Mikey's muffled voice asked, sounding out of breath.

"Come here," Don ordered tiredly.

"Why?" Mikey asked.

"Just do it!" Don snapped, his patience running low.

Mikey groaned and straightened from his semi-crouched position. He turned and staggered over to Don. That was when Don noticed that Mikey was having trouble keeping his balance.

"What?" Mikey asked running and exhausted, shaking hand across his sweat laden brow.

Don took the flashlight and studied his brother's body, his breathing pattern, his focus, and his eyes. "Sit down, take a break" Don suggested gently, holding onto what little patience he had left.

"But… I need to keep working!" Mikey protested.

"Mikey! You're overworking yourself. You have no energy to keep going. Just sit down for a while and rest." Don pleaded firmly.

Mikey frowned, and then groaned in acceptance. He carefully lowered himself down to the ground near where Don sat. He took a deep breath and let it out in a resigned huff. He rested his carapace against the wall and leaned his head back against the cool surface of the stone brickwork behind him, careful not to irritate the still swollen bump.

"Don?" He asked wearily.

"…Yeah?"

Mikey sighed, "How much longer do we have?"

Don turned his head, "What do you mean?" He asked in confusion

Mikey rubbed a shaky hand across the hard keratin plates of his plastron, directly over his horribly empty and painful stomach. It felt as if his insides were all slowly expanding.

"How much longer do we have until… until we…you know" He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

Don sighed, rubbing his eyes with his fingers, "I don't know, and truthfully, I would rather not think about that right now." Don answered glumly.

Mikey chuckled bitterly, "What else exactly do we have to think about?"

"Anything other than that." Don admitted sullenly.

….

April peeked into Master Splinter's room, where she saw Leo and Raph, wearing Casey's snow pants and down filled parkas. Their snow boots looked a bit tight, but she didn't think they cared.

They each held one of Master Splinter's frail hands in their own, whispering softly to their father.

April walked away and into the kitchen, unable to come to grips with the notion of Leo and Raph are going to walking all the way back to New York in this weather.

"We're ready." She heard Leo say softly from behind her. April slowly turned around and saw Leo and Raph walking from the bedroom towards the front door. Leo swung his backpack over his shoulder along with one pair of snowshoes he found; Raph had the other pair.

He pulled opened the door. A blast of wintery wind and snow cascaded into the small entryway dusting the two turtles with a fine layer of snow.

"Please… please be careful" April begged two turtles, her heart clenching in worried misery.

"You ain't got anything to worry about." Raph soothed, forcing a smile across his face, which didn't reach his eyes.

"If it seems too risky, or if you guys get into some sort of trouble, just come back and we'll try to think of something else" Casey offered.

Leo nodded, and then he and Raph walked outside snapping on the snowshoes. "This isn't goodbye!" Leo shouted. "We'll be back with our brothers." He reassured his friends.

April nodded, wiping the tears that formed in her eyes before they managed to fall.

Raph waved one last time before closing the door and shutting away the small amount of warmth that had leaked out from within the farm house into the bitter cold.

They pulled the scarves they wore around their necks up and over their mouths, and began making their slow and arduous journey through the deep snow, and frigid, whipping wind.

…..

Mikey anxiously eyed the small hole that he had managed to dig through the rocky pile of rubble. He wanted to go over there and get it over with, but Don was right, he was over working himself, and needed some time to just rest and regain what little strength he was able to muster for his upcoming task.

"I have a question." Don spoke suddenly, causing Mikey jump at the unexpected break of silence.

"What?" Mikey asked. He almost snapped at his brother, not wanting to listen to more questions about his nonexistent plan, but, it seemed to require too much effort.

"What exactly do you plan on doing if you manage to make a hole out of here?" Don asked curiously.

Mikey looked at him and sighed. "I just want to get out of here, Don." He stated the obvious point.

"Mikey..." Don began, his voice holding the faint edge of concern mixed with gentleness that did not bode well for Mikey's plan. "Think about it, when you manage to get out of here, what would you do? It's probably just as cold up there as it is down here. And besides that, you're a mutant turtle, I don't think anyone's going to help you." Don explained carefully.

Mikey frowned. "No, but I would search this place until I found a trench coat and something to cover my head. Then, I'd go up and find a pay phone and call Leo, Raph or April..." His voice trailed off at the frown that appeared on Don's concerned face.

"But you're weak, you won't be able to get up there without getting noticed by someone." Don pointed out reasonably.

Mikey felt a knot form in his stomach, "I thought you'd be happy that I found a way out." Mikey responded plaintively, "At least have a little faith in me." He grumbled bitterly.

Don sighed, "I'm sorry, Mikey, it's just... I can't seem to think straight anymore." Don soothed.

Mikey smiled slightly, his humour restored. "Don't worry about it." Mikey slowly stood up, "I'll just leave you alone and go work on my hole."

"Mikey…" Don said quickly, Mikey looked down at him. "Please be careful, brother."

Mikey's smile widened. "Will do." He said impishly with a curt nod.

….

As Leo and Raph walked through the snow, they noticed that it wasn't so much the bitter cold that was the problem, but rather the incredible length of the walk they would have to accomplish. At the rate they were going, it would take them forever to get to the lair.

"Come on, we need to pick up the pace," Leo ordered.

"Easier said than done, Fearless." Raph growled back.

Leo shook his head and continued trudging through the thick, deep snow. It came up to their ankles thanks to the snowshoes but the extra weight on their feet made it very hard and tiring to walk. But somehow they managed to struggle onwards, even though there were times when Leo lost his footing on some buried chunk of ice, almost face planting into the snow.

Raph's whoops of laughter not helping Leo's grim, and irritable mood any.

"Ain't so easy, is it, Fearless?" Raph mocked as Leo fell to one knee, before regaining his footing once again.

Leo grumbled too softly for Raph to hear what he was saying, but Raph knew whatever it was, it wasn't very nice.

Raph continued to follow Leo as best as he could, stopping suddenly when he saw Leo raise a hand.

Raph looked at his brother in confusion, his older brother appearing to be frozen to the spot in fear.

"What's wrong?" Raph asked in confusion.

"Is that what I think it is?" Leo asked very softly.

Raph squinted his eyes and looked over in the direction that Leo was pointing at. A large dark shape was lumbering through the snow.

"What the hell is that?" Raph asked in shock as the brown furred creature got close enough for Leo to identify it.

"It's a brown bear." Leo answered under his breath.

"Aren't they supposed to be in hibernation or something?" Raph hissed as the hulking brown shape lumbered closer.

"Well, usually." Leo agreed. "But he looks like a big male, he might still be hungry." Leo answered as he took a small step backwards.

The bear suddenly paused in his movement; most likely alerted by their soft whispering or Leo's step backwards. Either way the bear tentatively sniffed the air and fining their scent threatening, stood up on his hind legs and roared.

They both froze, standing absolutely still.

"Don't…move" Leo whispered.

"Leo, I think it's a little late for that." Raph growled as the bear threw his head back and gave another bellowing roar on anger before falling on all fours and charging them.

"Raph!" Leo shouted as they both scrambled to get away from the charging animal.

…

Mikey grinned excitedly as he picked up a rock and rolled it out of the hole. "I think I'm getting close." Mikey said happily.

Don nodded and leaned his head back against the wall, pulling the blanket up more securely under his chin. His illness was starting to really get to him. It felt as if it was slowly draining him of everything. His head pounded painfully, his stomach was even worse; he felt like death.

"I think I got it!" Mikey suddenly shouted.

Don looked over at him, slightly relieved and slightly worried at the same time.

"I just have to move this-"

Don jumped when he heard the sound of rocks grinding and then smashing into each other. For a second, Don thought it was another earthquake, but it ended too quickly and the floor did not shift beneath him. Don's heart hammered in his chest, like a frightened bird trying to escape as his mind hit upon one very frightening conclusion. "Mikey?" He called out shakily.

There was no response.

Don craned his neck to look at the hole, fearing what he was about to see. His worst fears were confirmed as he struggled to his feet. The hole that Mikey had been so diligently working at had collapsed, with Mikey inside.

….

Leo heard Raph repeatedly curse as they tried to get away from the charging bear in the deep snow. Leo looked back and saw the bear not too far away.

Thankfully the bear seemed to be hampered by the deep snow as well, otherwise the bear would have caught up to them long ago.

"Keep running, Raph!" Leo shouted over his shoulder at his struggling brother.

"What do you think I'm doing!?" Raph shouted back in exasperation.

Leo spotted something off in the distance, his eyes finally recognizing the sleek surface.

The river.

Leo grabbed Raph's arm and tried to maneuver through the snow even faster, with the bear gaining on them.

Leo looked down at the frozen surface of the river, It looked solid enough, but he wasn't sure how deep the ice went, and suspected that since the river was a flowing body of water, that it was possible that there was still moving water beneath the deceptively solid surface.

Leo looked over his shoulder at the still charging bear and made a decision.

"Come on!" Leo said, moving out onto the frozen surface of the river.

"Are you serious?" Raph exclaimed in disbelief.

"It's either stay here with the bear, or cross." Leo explained with exasperation.

Raph looked back and saw the bear barreling ever closer, its teeth bared in a snarl, razor sharp claws cutting easily through the snow.

He cursed and followed Leo out onto the ice. It didn't feel thin,, seeming to hold their combined weight easily.

Raph let out a small breath of relief, believing that they may have a chance out on the icy river.

Halfway across Leo stopped and looked back at the bear. It stood near the river's edge and roared at them in feral anger. It paced the river bank angrily before carefully stepping out onto the frozen surface.

"What kind of freaking bear is this?!" Raph shouted in shock.

Leo signaled Raph to keep moving, and quickly. Raph didn't need to be told, or signaled twice. He took two more hurried steps forward before the ice gave way underneath him.

Leo quickly grabbed his arm and held him up, trying to haul him back up onto the ice.

Leo looked frantically behind him and saw the bear getting closer and closer. Countless thoughts ran through his mind. He swallowed in fear; he didn't know what to do.

Unable to pull Raph from the frigid, running water, Leo stepped too close to the break in the ice as he gave one final, desperate heave, trying to pull his brother out.

There was the sound of cracking ice and suddenly Leo was plunged into the icy waters beside Raph. Leo tried desperately to keep a firm grip on Raph's hand. But his hand slid away from Raph's, flailing grasp. Frantically he searched for his brother whose head had disappeared underneath the frigid water.

"RAPH!" He called out in panic, finally diving beneath the water's icy surface, desperately searching for his brother's form in the inky blackness below him.

Leo swam to the surface wanting to see if his brother managed to surface while he had been searching down below.

His head struck the frozen ice of the river above him. Realizing that he had drifted away from where they had plunged through the ice Leo frantically searched for a thin patch of ice to break through to the surface.

He punched and kicked the ice, making several attempts to reach the surface until he finally managed to punch a hole through a section of thin ice.

Taking in a great lungful of air he managed to climb out onto the ice. He rolled over and struggled to his feet, his eyes desperately searching the vast expanse of white and finding nothing to indicate his brother had managed to make it to the surface.

"RAPH!" Leo shouted as mind numbing horror tore through his frozen body.

He waited hoping and praying that there would be a response, but he waited in vain as nothing but cold silence greeted his ears.


	14. Chapter 14

_**So...i'm sitting here trying to think of something funny, quirky, or clever to say, but i'm drawing blanks. So i'll leave you wonderful readers with this. STAY IN SCHOOL! ...AND IF YOU'RE ALREADY OUT OF SCHOOL! ...I DON'T KNOW! ...i need to go to bed. But before i take a nap! I leave you guys with a little something Me, Amonraphoenix, and DarkUnderworld cooked up for you all. Christmas comes early this year! Ok...i'm blabbering, i need to go to bed now. So Goodnight World. Goodnight readers. Goodnight Mom. Goodnight homlessman that lives next to the dumpster near my house and screams at me randomly.  
><strong>_

_**And most importantly, ENJOY!  
><strong>_

_**I still own nothing, except my thoughts and dreams. Actually i don't even know if i own those! Its a conspiracy.** _

_**EDIT: Ok so _**Amonraphoenix**_ just informed me that i was missing POV breaks in this chapter, so for anyone who has already read it and was like "What the hell am i reading!" Sorry!  
><strong>_

* * *

><p>The flashlight slipped out of Don's numb fingers and hit the ground with a sharp bang. Shouting Mikey's name, Don ran to the newly filled hole with his brother buried inside, and began burrowing as best as he could through the rocks. Don's breath grew heavier, filled with pain, as he felt every muscle strain with the laborious movement.<p>

"MIKEY!" Don screamed, feeling tears begin to roll down his face. "Please, Mikey!" He shouted. He reached deep inside and pulled more and more rocks out, feeling the jagged edges scrape and tear at his skin. He ignored the pain and continued mutilating his arm in his attempt to find his younger brother, cursing to himself that his other arm was still broken and useless.

He feared the worst. Mikey was already in rough shape and shouldn't have been exerting himself in the first place, and now he was buried underneath a heavy, crushing amount of rock. From what Donatello could observe with the rubble he dredged from the hole, things did not look good.

Don's arm became too weak to move another rock; he slammed his palm against the wall as hard as he could and slid to the floor in bitter, heart-wrenching defeat. He wept softly his grief palatable as he tasted the wet, salty tears of his failure. "Please, God, just give me a break…Please" He begged. He sniffed and placed his ear on the rock. "Mikey? Can you hear me?" He called softly.

There was no answer. He shook his head and covered his face with his good arm, briefly in sorrow before -in a fit of pure anger- he smashed his fist into the ground. _Why did I let him keep digging?_ He berated himself bitterly.

"WHY?" He smashed his fist into the ground again, feeling the skin on his knuckles tear and begin to bleed. He studied the crimson blood, watching it spread to every area on his hand. Then he studied his forearm, which was covered with light scratches, and deep lacerations. Each injury bled, the dark crimson of fresh blood staining his skin, the red bright against the olive green of his skin.

"Mikey…" Don whispered forlornly, leaning the back of his head against the cool, rough stone surface. "Mikey…Christmas i-is…just around the corner. Do you know what I got you?" Don closed his eyes and felt more hot tears of misery and grief stream down his icy cold cheeks. "A…A Powell Golden Dragon Flying Dragon Complete Skateboard…you know…the one with the dragon on it…the one you always wanted. I even modified it a bit so it can hover."

Icy silence ate at Don's heart, as he tried to wipe away the tears with his hand, but only added crimson wetness to his already damp cheeks. "I got it for you Mikey…I got it…Just for you so you can't be… dead." Don smiled sadly, and then chuckled bitterly. "This is…this is one hell of a Christmas, Mikey." Don dashed away the tears and blood again, feeling every inch of his body cry out with pain.

...

"RAPH!"

Silence

"RAPH!"

Leo quickly staggered to his feet and ran along the edge of the river, searching for his brother. "RAPH! ANSWER ME!" He screamed. He ran back, searching the surface of the icy river, before his foot got caught in a snow covered crack, twisting his ankle and forcing him to the ground hard. He screamed and clutched at his ankle in excruciating pain.

He clenched his teeth together tightly and looked towards the other side of the river; seeing the bear watching him sinisterly, almost with smugness on its features.

Leo glared bitterly at the bear as it paced along the shoreline. He wanted to rant and rave at the bear, at God, at Fate for having cost him so much pain, and for the loss of his brothers. But he knew there was no point, no one would listen to him anyway.

Leonardo stood, ignoring the pain in his ankle. He stared at the bear, daring -no, not even- more like begging the bear to cross the frigid expanse and take Leo's life; ending his bitter, grief-stricken suffering.

The bear took one last look at him, snorted out a warm puff of air, and turned, no longer interested in is escaped dinner.

Leo collapsed to his knees, hanging his head in defeat.

He lifted his head and looked around, spotting the top of the New York City skyline in the distance above the trees. "We were so close, Raph…it's…it's right there." Leo said wretchedly.

...

Leo didn't know how much time had passed before he began to shiver violently; the cold weakening his reptile body severely. He slid his hand out of the pile of snow and curled his fingers into a fist, unable to feel anything. He shook his head and sat up, feeling the skin around his ankle press painfully against the inside of his boot. He carefully slid the boot off and examined the severely swollen ankle. He picked up some snow and placed it on the tender spot, hoping to reduce the swelling. He looked back at the river, not wanting to think about Raph, but unable to force his mind away from thoughts of his hot-headed brother.

A dark object suddenly caught his attention; something was pressed up on the underside of the ice. His heart skipped a beat as he quickly crawled over to the spot.

"RAPH!" He screamed in horror, seeing his younger brother trapped beneath the ice, motionless.

He panicked and slammed his fist into the hard, unforgiving surface of the ice. A small crack appeared, but it wasn't enough to break his brother free. He cursed and smashed his elbow against the ice, cracking it a little more. He yelled and tried once more, the ice shattering on impact. Leo blinked, momentarily stunned that he was able to break through the ice before his frantic arms quickly plunged into the sub-zero water and latched onto the sopping, partially frozen fabric of, Raph's coat. Leo swiftly pulled him up and onto the surface of the ice.

He stood up and dragged Raph away from the river and onto the snow covered shore; while he to ignore the intense, throbbing pain in his ankle. When he couldn't bear it any longer, he collapsed, hitting the ground, his ankle was thankfully numb from the effort. He quickly crawled to Raph's side and pressed his numb, shaking fingers desperately against Raph's throat searched for a pulse.

He found none.

"No, Raph stay with me, please!" Leo begged, laying Raph flat and opening his mouth so that he could breathe a puff of air into his motionless lungs. Leo lifted his head up and placed both palms on his brothers' plastron, pressing down hard.

"1"

"2"

"3"

"Come on, Raph!" Leo snarled, blowing another desperate puff of air into his brothers' mouth, before moving back to his chest.

"1"

"2"

"3"

"Wake up you selfish bastard!" Leo barked, pressing harder and harder on his brother's frighteningly unmoving chest. "I refuse to lose another brother… I can't. You hear me, Raph, you don't get to die! Not on my watch! "

Stillness

"WAKE UP!" Leo bellowed, slamming his fist down on Raph's chest, right above his heart and waited in tense silence.

Raph continued to lie deathly still on the rocky shore.

Leo reluctantly gave up and sat back, staring blankly at the lifeless body of his younger brother. "Raph!" He whispered wretchedly.

Darkness began swarming around the edges of his vision as stark, harsh realization struck him; ravaging what remain of his will to keep living.

Splinter was dying.

Don was dead.

Raph was dead.

Mikey was most likely moments away from dying himself.

Leo closed his eyes as his head began to pound painfully with heart wrenching grief and sorrow. He pulled the backpack from his back and reached inside pulling out a thermal sleeping bag and wrapping it tightly around Raph's cold body and himself. He then placed his hand on Raph's cold forehead and spoke softly. "I'm sorry, Raph…this wasn't supposed to happen."

Without anything left to lose, he lay down on the snow next to his brother, wrapping his arms around Raph's chest before he laid his head on Raph's still plastron. Eyelids heavy from exhaustion and cold, he thought of a time before this, a better time; a time with all of his brothers and his father together, happy and carefree. Never in his life did he think that something like this was going to happen.

_They're all dead._

Leo felt a tear trickle out of the corner of his eye as he stared up into the sky and the noon day sun, his thoughts filled with his family; his gradually closed against his will to keep them open, his breathing got slower and slower. With a final soft breath Leo went limp against his brother.

...

Don shook his head. "Come on Don, for Mikey" He said to himself encouragingly.

He grabbed the edge of a rock with his good arm and carefully pulled himself up, muscles screaming in protest. Don stood up and leaned against the wall, catching his breath. Without thinking, he began digging through the rock again with his good arm, trying desperately to ignore the pain and get his brother out of the hole.

Don felt his finger brush against something that was much softer then rock; he froze for a heartbeat before he quickly grabbed the flashlight and shined it in the hole. His heart sank when he saw Mikey's limp hand sticking out from within the rocks. "Mikey!" He cried out in horror. He set the flashlight down and hurriedly cleared the rocks away from Mike's limp form.

Don's muscles ached with exhaustion, his arm was numb, but he had to get Mikey out. He grabbed another rock and threw it back in the lair, his heart clenching in anguish as Mikey's head was revealed. He quickly went to work at clearing the rocks carefully from around his baby brother's swollen forehead.

Once the rubble had been cleared away from Mikey's head and torso, he grabbed Mikey's arm and slowly and cautiously pulled him out; the rocks scraping the wrapping on Mikey's other arm, exposing his still burnt skin.

Don felt his slight feeling of hope waver as Mikey's feet dragged along the floor as he - partial pulled, partial carried - his brother over to where the blankets were, and laid him down gently, resting the swollen part of his head gradually on to the two pillows. He placed two fingers on Mikey's throat, checking for a pulse.

He found one, but it was intermittent and growing weaker by the second.

Don realized that there was nothing he could do but wait for Mikey to wake up on his own… hopefully. He covered Mikey with two blankets and curled up close to his baby brother; feeling the exhaustion he had been fighting against consume him. Pain coursed through every part of Don's body; his muscles were on fire and his head felt like it was going to explode from the migraine.

He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. He felt as if death was quickly closing in. He felt tears sting his eyes as he reached over and grabbed the flashlight, switching it off and covering himself with a blanket as he curled against Mikey's now all too still body.

"See you on the other side, Mikey" Don whispered sorrowfully, as his eyes slid closed, not knowing if either of them would ever wake up again.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Following the return of Jet, i bring to you, another chapter of Quicksand! Wooo! And you all know who else to thank!**_ ****_Amonraphionex and _**_DarkUnderworld! Why? CAUSE THEY'RE AWESOME! _**

_**Enjoy my precious readers...enjoy!**_

* * *

><p>Chapter 15<p>

Leo's eyes groggily slid open; intense sunlight struck his face. He groaned slightly and buried his face in Raph's arm. He closed his eyes, wanting to go back to sleep, wanting this to be over, for it all to just end.

He wished he could drift back into his dreams, where Don and Raph were alive and Mikey wasn't minutes from death, but right now, it seems like a pipe dream. Leo opened his eyes once again, unable to fall back to sleep. He groaned and lifted himself up, scanning his surroundings. The chill of the winter wind was somehow less noticeable. He looked up at the sky and saw the clouds beginning to part, letting the sun's rays shine down on them.

The little warmth it gave was enough to keep the cold at bay. He tilted his head up slightly, "Now you start to help," He grumbled softly. He knew it was just the weather, but he wished it was some sign giving him hope. It was then that something caught his eye. He looked down and saw his boot, partially buried in the snow. Then he remembered his ankle.

"Oh, God" He said softly, not wanting to look.

He moved his foot slightly, wincing in anticipation. He felt nothing, his foot was completely numb. _That isn't a good sign_. Leo thought to himself fearfully.

Terrified, Leo bit his lip and looked down at his foot, quickly regretting that move. His whole foot was large and swollen, with pieces of skin coated in a sick black color. Leo groaned and laid his head on the snow, wondering how things could have gone so badly, so fast.

He laid his head down on Raph's cold plastron and closed his eyes in defeat. He wanted death to claim him already and just get it over with. It was then that something made his heart jump. A simple sound, small and barely audible, but Leo heard it crystal clear.

Breathing.

His eyes jerked open as he lifted his head and gawked at Raph, seeing his chest inflate, then deflate in ragged, raspy, whisper soft breaths.

….

The smell hit him first, the murky smell of sewage, sweat, blood and strangely…roses. _Weird_. His thoughts remained on roses for a few seconds, before remembering every little detail about what happened.

The hole.

Don telling him not to continue.

Him not listening.

His thoughts changed from roses to Don. Mikey realized then that he had been unconscious. He didn't know for how long, but time wasn't something that he or Don had a lot of.

"Don" He whispered, feeling a dull ache in his jaw.

He then realized that there was an unfamiliar weight on his chest. _Could be blankets, but blankets shouldn't be this heavy. _He dully thought to himself.

Mikey's headache grew worse as his eyes slowly opened. "Don" He croaked again, still no response.

The uncomfortable weight on his chest began to bother him; he frowned and lifted his arm to push whatever it was off. When his hand touched soft, frigid skin, his heart skipped a beat. A cold chill ran though his body as he quickly lifted his head up and saw his older brother's limp body resting on top his own.

"DON!" Mikey yelled, pushing him off gently and shifting to his knees. His mind went numb for a moment as he stared at his brother. The cold began to seep into his body snapping him out of his momentary shock, making it easier to think.

He shifted Don on his carapace and looked around for a source of light. It took him a minute to realize that he had already had one. He looked down next to the pile of blankets that he had pushed off himself, and saw a small candle; the lit wick giving off just enough light to see the shadowy form of Don.

Mikey reached out and grabbed the rose scented candle, bringing it closer to Don so that he could get a better look at his brother. Mikey let out a stifled gasp of horror. He didn't even recognize his brother anymore. His heart squeezed painfully in his chest at the sight. "Please, please still be with me, Don. He pleaded softly as he searched the tender spot under Don's neck, checking for a pulse. All he could feel was icy, stiff skin. "Oh, God no" He whispered in misery. He bent over and hauled Don up, clutching him tightly to his chest. "Please no" He felt tears run down his cheeks, "No… no… no…" He repeated over and over, rocking back in forth in grief, Don's still, cold, lifeless body clutched close to his own.

…..

Leo scrambled to his hands and knees and crawled next to Raph. He placed two fingers onto his brothers' neck, searching for further evidence of life. He felt a faint, pulse beneath his frozen fingertips. His heart leapt with hope and he grabbed Raph's shoulders giving him a hard, quick shake. "Raph?! Can you hear me?" He barked desperately.

Leo waited anxiously for an answer. But every second that went by without a reply made Leo more and more uneasy.

"Leo" He finally heard Raph croak softly in a harsh voice. His groggy, clouded amber eyes sought out his brother's.

Leo's heart nearly burst with relief as he grabbed Raph and hugged him tightly, almost squeezing him too hard. "Raph! Thank, God! I thought I had lost you." He happily shouted. He looked around and rested his eyes on the large backpack they packed before they had left Casey's farm. "Here" Leo said, wrapping Raph up with an aluminum thermal blanket he had found in the backpack, "Stay here while I set up a tent"

"Where else would I go?" Raph grumbled softly in an exhausted voice.

Leo sighed happily. "Good, your sarcasm is back up to par."

Leo opened the backpack and pulled out the compact tent. He scanned the area around him to find a spot to put it, but a sight made him freeze. He stared wide-eyed at the city. He hadn't realized until now how close they were.

"Raph, look!" Leo said with amazed awe, "We're almost there."

…

After setting up the tent, Leo helped Raph into the tent, and covered him up with another thermal blanket, "You need to warm yourself up if we're going to keep going," Leo stated.

"Here" Raph said, lifting up the blankets, "Get in. Raphael growled. "I ain't the only one who needs to warm up."

Leo smirked, "I'll be fine"

Raph scowled at him, "Just get your ass in here," He snarled.

Leo sighed, and then scooted closer to Raph as he threw the blanket over him. "There, our bodies will warm each other up."

Leo managed to swallow down the lump that had risen in his throat as his brother's body began to warm his own. He had thought he had lost Raph. He must have voiced these thoughts out loud because Raph suddenly let out a derisive snort.

"I ain't that easy to kill, Fearless."

Leo smiled, tears pricking his eyes. It had been too close a thing. And what he had felt -that terror and grief- he never wanted to feel that again. Leo felt his smile fall from his face as he grew solemn. They still had one more brother, out there, possibly injured… definitely dying.

"We'll get him, Leo." Raph's voice rasped out in determination.

Leo nodded, but couldn't help the tears that sprang to his eyes.

"Good, just you keep thinkin' that, 'kay? We're gonna rescue Mikey, no matter what."

Leo nodded again. "I love you, Raph." He said, needing to tell his brother that he loved him, just in case... in case the worst happened.

"I love you too, Leo" Raph whispered quietly in a weary voice.

Leo smiled, wiping the tear away from his cheek as he snuggled closer to his brother.

"And tomorrow, we'll get Mikey and Don back, and we'll be a family again." Raph said sleepily.

Leo nodded his head, "Yeah," was all he could manage to say.

Leo closed his eyes, feeling warmth surrounding him. His foot felt uncomfortable lying on the ground, but he couldn't do much for it right now.

He sighed deeply, feeling drowsiness set in. With the thought of him and his brothers being together again in the back of his mind, he smiled and fell into a deep sleep.

…..

Mikey held onto Don for what felt like hours before letting Don finally slide out of his grip. The pain slowly started flowing throughout his body. The intense ache in his stomach from hunger felt like a spike had been driven though his gut. Don rested upon Mikey's knees, making him want to slump over and break down into heart wrenching sobs.

What made him so deserving to be burned, blinded, and on the verge of death twice, and still be alive? He questioned the universe bitterly. Especially when Don only had a broken arm and a fever.

A burden. That's all Mikey was to Don. Mikey had all this crap happen to him and Don was the one who had to deal with it. The only thing he dealt with was Don's broken arm, and that was pure luck. He hadn't even known what he was doing. Mikey didn't deserve to live through this; Don was the one who should have. He was the one who knew what to do and did it without thinking about himself. Don always thought about Mikey first, never telling him to wait or anything. His brother was always there for him.

Mikey couldn't bear it anymore. He grabbed Don and pulled him up again clutching him to his plastron tighter than before. "I'm so sorry, Don" He whispered stroking his brother's gaunt cheek tenderly. "I didn't want for any of this to happen. I…I wish I could go back and." He stopped, unsure of how to finish the sentence. He changed his mind, not bothering to finish it. Instead he closed his eyes and sobbed into his brother's cold shoulder. Then he felt something hit against his leg, he stopped and looked down, seeing Don's hand next to his leg.

Don's finger twitched again.

"Don?" Mikey whispered softly in a hopeful voice.

"Mikey?"

…..

The sun shone through the frosty, white clouds. Raph felt the cold against his skin, weakening him as he watched Leo try to stuff the tent back in the backpack; blanket wrapped around his shivering body.

"You should take it easy" Raph said concerned.

Leo huffed, "You can't do much, and we need this tent, so I have to push myself."

Raph frowned in concern. "You have frost bite, covering it up with a part of a blanket and thinking that will do it isn't gonna help it." Raph pointed out with an irritated growl.

"And neither will taking it easy," Leo replied testily.

Raph sighed, "Fine, when it becomes so badly frostbitten that the skin's all dead and it needs be cut off, don't come crying to me."

Leo stuffed the tent in the bag and slung it over his shoulder. "How are you feeling?" Leo asked changing the topic.

"Like shit" Raph responded truthfully.

"We can camp for one more night if you need more rest." Leo suggested.

Raph shook his head. "No, we can't keep stopping like this. "Let's go," He said. Leo nodded, looking ahead at the distant city.

"Here we come guys." He said softly.


	16. Chapter 16

**_And the moment you've all been waiting for. The continuation of a Quicksand! Which has won 1st place in the Tragedy/Angst category on Stealthy Stories! Couldn't have done it without Amonraphionex and DarkUnderworld. And of course! The readers! _**

**_This is probably one of my favorite chapters, if not my favorite._**

**_Enjoy my fellow readers. _**

* * *

><p>Chapter 16<p>

The bitter taste of blood in the back of his throat drew him out of his deadly slumber. A tiny whimper slid out from between his lips, forcing his eyes open. He didn't want to wake up, because he knew what would happen if he woke up; his pain would only get worse.

He shifted, checking to see if he was still even alive, and knew that he was because he didn't think he could hurt this much and be dead. His finger twitched and he breathed out in relief. Without meaning to, his whole arm twitched, causing Don to jerk awake next to him. He cursed to himself, "Mikey? Are you ok?" Don asked worriedly, voice sounding gruff and unrecognizable.

"Yeah," Mikey said, jumping at the sound of his own voice. They sounded like their throats were made of rough gravel, barely able to breathe without feeling an agonizing pain radiate through their chests.

"Don't leave my side," Don said unexpectedly. Mikey looked at him, eyes open slightly, but before he could question his brother's request, Don had already fallen asleep, or passed out again. At this point, he wasn't sure, but couldn't gather the shear strength of will and power to check despite his concern over his brother's health.

Mikey moved anyway, resting his head lightly upon Don's chest, listening to his frail heartbeats grow even weaker.

A stone hits the ground, causing Mikey to jerk nervously. He turned his head towards the sound and looked at the deep, shadowy place where the entrance lay buried; the large hole that Mikey had worked at was now slightly covered over by a thick dusting of rocks and debris. But this isn't what had caught his attention, rather it was the small almost imperceptible sound coming from behind the stone…

Voices.

He strained his ears and listened for the voices to grow louder.

Instead deathly silence greeted his ears beyond the rubble.

But he knew, he knew that he had heard voices in the tunnel.

"Leo? Raph?" He called softly. Sudden energy stirred his exhausted body into action. He knew that there was someone behind there.

"Don!" Mikey called gentle, given his unconscious brother a firm shake.

No response.

He cursed quietly and slid himself off of Don . He weakly pulled himself towards the entrance on shaking limbs. Then, he heard the sound of rocks hitting the tunnel beyond the wall of rubble. Hope, like a bolt of lightning struck his heart like lightening as he slowly dragged himself toward the entrance.

With every small, strenuous movement, he felt his muscles scream in protest. He wanted to stop, but he knew that there was someone out there. He didn't care if they were his brothers or human workers clearing the tunnels, he needed to get both himself and Don out of here before it was too late and they didn't make it out alive.

"Hello!?"He called out in desperation.

He placed his hand firmly against the floor and heaved himself closer ; dragging himself painfully across the broken floor on his plastron. When he finally reached the entrance, he reached up and wrapped his hand around a large boulder.

He gritted his teeth in effort and pulled himself up. He felt the boulder give slightly under his weight, but didn't budget much.

The sounds of digging were more prominent now. He swore he could literally hear the raspy breathing of exertion coming from behind the wall of stone and debris in front of him. In a fit of excitement, he lifted his other arm, the light from the candle gave off just enough light for Mikey to see the ragged burn scars on his arm, reminding him of when he burnt his arm and became temporarily blind. It felt like so long ago that, he had even forgotten all about it since he had woken up after he had hit his head.

He shook the memory away, grabbed the boulder, and pulled himself up more. The large boulder teetered, then gave way, falling from the hole and plummeting to the ground, taking Mikey with it.

The first thing he felt was his body hitting the ground hard, nothing too bad, just a nearly unbearable pain tore through his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. He inhaled sharply, and then coughed violently. When he tried to turn onto his hands and knees, he felt his left arm being tugged painfully.

He looked over, then felt his heart sink at the sight.

The large boulder was now pinning his forearm to the ground; preventing it from being moved even an inch.

…

The city wasn't too far away and Leo was trying his best to ignore the frostbite and the lead weight of worry that sat heavily in his gut; while Raph focused all of his attention on staying upright and breathing.

"So, what's our next move?" Raph asked in a rasped weakly.

Leo didn't respond, thoughts and scenarios rushed through his mind as he tried to figure out on what they would do when they finally made it to the city. They would need to hide as best as they were able. The sewers were not an option if they were in the same condition as the tunnels outside of the lair.

They could always hope that the maintenance crews had already cleared out the tunnels surrounding the lair, and had moved on., then they would need to get as close to the lair as they could above ground. But then what if the maintenance crews were still down there, which would create a lot of problems for them.

"-ey, Fearless!" Raph exclaimed hoarsely, tearing Leo from his whirling thoughts. "You deaf or something?"

"No," he answered sharply. "The best I could come up with is that we get as close to the lair above ground as we can, then hope to God that the tunnels are clear and stable."

"And if they aren't! What if the people are still trying to clear them out?"

Leo sighed tiredly. "I haven't thought that far ahead actually," he admitted softly in a defeated tone.

Leo's thoughts drifted towards a comment he had just made, 'Hope to God', he thought about his little outburst he had back at April's toward the little plastic Jesus. He didn't know what he was doing, looking back now, he was screaming at a little plastic man. He was desperate, scared, and angry. He couldn't think of what else to do. But now he knew what to do, and they were so close to Mikey but yet still so far away.

….

Mikey couldn't gather the energy required to even scream. He stared in shock at the boulder in shock as it rested contently on his forearm; the bones of which had most likely been shattered. "Don." Mikey whimpered in pain., unable to speak.

Don didn't respond, he most likely passed out again. _Great timing_, he thought bitterly.

Mikey closed his eyes and tried to pull his arm out from under the rock, but it wouldn't budge. Now he knew how James Franco felt like in that one movie. "Don." He tried again, but knew it was useless; Don was out like a light.

Speaking of light, the candle was fading slowly. Mikey stared in desperation at the tiny flame, "Please don't go out," he pleaded softly.

He knew he could push the rock off his arm if he had the strength; he also knew that if he were healthy, the boulder would have done only minor damage. But since he wasn't healthy, he couldn't move the boulder and the boulder had most likely shattered his arm; if it hadn't and his bones were somehow miraculously intact, he would have thought that it should hurt way more than it did right now. But in reality, it didn't hurt at all. He didn't know if it was just numb, or if he just didn't have it in him to even feel pain anymore.

Suddenly, a voice whisper of a voice clamored in his head. He jumped a bit, causing his arm to tug painfully. The voice was achingly familiar.

"_Michelangel_o?"

He knew only one person with a voice that raspy and soft sounding.

His heart nearly stopped with disbelief . "Father?"

….

Raph could feel his muscles resisting, making his legs feel even heavier as he trudged through the thigh deep snow. His whole body shook with cold as the bitter wind tore against his numb and frozen skin.

His knees buckled, but he managed to catch himself before he could hit the ground again. "You need help?" Leo asked in concern, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Naw," he replied, nudging his brother's offer of support away. "I'll be fine," he lied. He knew he wouldn't be able to support himself for very much longer. And as he went to take another step, his knees buckled once again, only this time, he wasn't able to catch himself . Thankfully, Leo grabbed him and held him up before he could hit the ground face first.

"Come on," Leo said, throwing Raph's arm around his shoulders and supporting most of his weight. Raph groaned, not because Leo was helping him, but because he knew Leo was also exhausted as well. Now he was struggling with Raph's dead weight over his shoulders.

Raph knew what Leo was thinking just by the look on his face; the look of agony hidden behind raw determination. This made Raph feel horrible, but knew that even though Leo was taking such a heavy burden upon himself, at the moment, Raph had no choice but to let him.

….

"_Michelangelo? Are you alright my son?" His father asked worriedly._

Michelangelo stared at the ceiling, stunned. He glanced down at his hand, then down at his body, his bones bulging out from beneath his emaciated skin. "Uhh…I'm alright…kinda."

"_Michelangelo, it's so good to hear your voice!"_

Mikey felt a tear roll down his face, feeling so much better that his father was talking to him. "_Do not worry my son; your older brothers are on their way, just hang on. I wish I could say the same for Donatello."_ Splinter said sadly, his voice choking with unbearable grief and pain.

Mikey felt sudden shock course through him, "No, Father! I was wrong, Donnie's alive! But he's really sick and needs help! We both do."

Splinter was silent a moment, letting Mikey's words sink in, "_Donatello…he's alive?!"_ He gave a small joyous sound that rolled into a sickly cough. "_I'm so glad to hear it_…" His voice started to fade a bit.

"Father?" Mikey asked softly in concern.

"_Michelangelo…" He said in a strained voice, "I love you…I love you and your brothers so much …never forget that, my son_."

"I love you too, but, Father, what's wrong?" Mikey asked again, fear ghosting through his heart. His fear solidified when he heard no response. "Father?"

No response.

"SENSEI!" He cried out in desperation.

Nothing but silence answered him back.

Mikey felt like crying again, but didn't. He took a deep breath and turned his head towards Don. "They're coming, Don. We're going to be fine," he told him confidently in a reassuring voice, but mainly, he was telling himself; still holding on desperately to that thin, fray strand of hope.

…..

"We're here."

Raph stirred for a second, and then glanced up; they were on the outskirts of the city. "How…how are we going to do this?" Raph asked softly in an drained voice.

Leo sighed, scanning the city streets. "I don't know, he replied truthfully.

Suddenly, Raph began coughing violently and harshly. Leo stared down in horror as the color in Raph's face quickly drained and he went lifeless in Leo's arms.

"Raph? RAPH!" Leo screamed in terror.

Raph's dead weight pulled Leo down and made him fall face first into the snow. The cold numbed his face a new icy pain tearing through his senses. He felt something warm and wet trickle down his nose. He shifted onto his shell and placed his finger under his nose. Pulling his hand away he stared at the bright crimson wetness that now marred his fingers. He ignored his own injury and looked down at Raph, seeing him gasping and wheezing for air. "Raph? Are you alright?" He quickly asked.

"I can't." Raph exhaled, struggling for another breath. "I can't make it. Leave me here, go save Mikey."

Leo bit his lip as he looked up. The city was right there, they were so damn close. "Raph, the city… our home, is right there, you can do this. I know you can!"

Before Raph could respond, his head fell back into the snow as he went frighteningly limp. Leo felt his heart lurch again as he pressed his fingers against Raph's neck. He was still breathing but his pulse was very sluggish. just passed out.

Suddenly, a light caught him off guard. It wasn't the light from the sun, it couldn't have been, this one was coming from the city, shining right on him. He glanced up and saw a bright light shining from the middle of the city's skyline.

He didn't know what to think of it until he saw a figure, walking toward him. His heart plummeted as he quickly grabbed Raph and tried to pull him up. Someone was walking towards him, as if walking out of the light itself. He couldn't let the man see them; Leo used all his strength to pull Raph up and began to drag him towards the thick evergreen trees nearby.

"_Do not be afraid, my son_."

The voice was so loud, but strangely soothing. Leo stopped suddenly, his heart hammered so quickly that he could feel it in his throat. It couldn't have been, but there was no other explanation.

He turned his head toward the light again and looked at the figure once more, noticing more details. His jaw dropped as a tear slid down from the corner of his eye. "Father?"

…

Mikey looked at the light once more, noticing as it began to fade softly. His terror rose quickly increased. He didn't want to be left in the dark again; especially not like this.

Then suddenly a soft white light filled the lair, Mikey looked around quickly as it grew brighter and brighter. He was able to discern ever single detail including the lair, the amount of destruction the earthquake had caused.

Everything was trashed ; the lair looked nothing like it did before. Everything was destroyed beyond repair.

"It is the light that we see in the darkest of times that gives us hope to keep going."

The voice boomed through the lair, causing Mikey to jump and yelp in fear. He jerked his head toward the voice and felt his heart surge with hope. Behind the light, he saw his father standing calmly before him.

He stared in shock, unable to speak. Even when his father slowly walked toward him, kneeling down beside him, and placed a hand on the boulder. Without any hesitation, he gently pushed the boulder off of Mikey's wrist, causing no pain.

When the boulder hit the ground with a dull thud, Mikey pulled his hand back and cradled his wrist against his chest; not looking away from his father as he did so. Splinter gentle placed his hand on Mikey's cheek. His skin was warm, instantly filling his body with a comforting warmth and love.

"I love you my son." Splinter said softly, then bent down and placed a gentle kiss on Mikey's forehead before standing, turning and heading back towards the light.

"Father?" Mikey implored softly.

Splinter stopped, but turned and faced Don. Mikey watched him step over to Don, kneel down, place his hand on Don's head and kiss his forehead. He then stood back up and continued towards the light.

"Father!" Mikey said more firmly, desperate to see his face.

Splinter stopped again, turning around and facing him.

"Stay strong and never forget what I have taught you, my son. You have always been the strongest, and have the biggest heart." The words pulled at Mikey's heart. He felt a tear trickle down his cold cheek. "Take care of your brother, because after this is over, he will need you just as much as you need him."

With that, Splinter turned back around and disappeared through the light. The light disappeared, plunging the lair into near total darkness, softly lit by the fading candlelight. Mikey looked down at the candle, mind in turmoil and the tears streamed unheeded down his cheeks.

The small flame flickered once more before dying all together, plunging the lair into absolute darkness.

…

"You can do this, my son. Your brothers need you."

Leo stared in shock and happiness as his father stood in front of the light. "Your brothers need you now more than ever. This is what you have been trained to do. Protect your brothers, no matter what the circumstances."

Leo shook his head, tears gradually slipping from his eyes, "What if I can't, what If I fail?" He whispered, his voice shaking.

Splinter shook his head. "It is not wise to ponder those thoughts. You must keep your focus on the thoughts of being reunited with your brothers. Only then will you find the strength and courage to continue."

Leo looked at the ground, not knowing what to think. Suddenly, Splinter was standing right in front of him, kneeling down and placing a soft kiss on his forehead. His father then moved, bending down and placed a gentle kiss on Raphael's forehead as well.

"I have faith in both of you, Leonardo. You can do this. You are so strong, and so brave; you can fight through this, you can do this I know you can," he said encouragingly as Leo buried his head in his hands, sobbing softly. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his cheek. He looked up and stared into his father's calm eyes.

"Do not be afraid, my son."

Leo inhaled sharply, lips trembling, "Never," he responded strongly.

And just like that, his father vanished, as if he had never been there.


	17. Chapter 17

**_I know what you're thinking. Where have i been and is this story going to be finished. Well i'm here to tell you yes, Quicksand will indeed be finished. With only three more chapters after this one, it's bound to be finished soon. So just hang in there and prepare for one hell of a roller coaster ride. _**

**_And of course, none of this would be possible without **_Amonraphionex and DarkUnderworld. _**_**

**_**_So go on, read your hearts out._**_**

**_**_And always, Enjoy._**_**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 17<span>

"Don?"

…

"Donnie?"

There was a small cough, then a harsh inhale, like someone dragging wood against sandpaper, "I'm right…here Mikey." Don reassured.

He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Don was awake and breathing. He didn't know if Donnie heard or saw his father like he did. But he was glad that he could talk to Don again.

"Did you hear him?" Don asked softly. Mikey smiled, taking a deep breath, "Yeah…I saw him."

That was the end of that, they both knew what they heard and knew that they couldn't give up. They knew their brothers were coming and that they just needed to hold on as long as they could.

Mikey suddenly thought about life before the earthquake, it seemed like such a long time ago. How things have gotten so bad? Mikey will never know, but he wanted it to be over.

"Donnie…I'm…my stomach hurts so bad." He said softly.

He inhaled roughly again, "I know Mike…mine does too."

Don found it hard to keep his eyes open, he didn't know if he was exhausted, or just…dying. He knew he was dying, but the thought of closing his eyes to die scared him. He didn't realize how close his brothers were to death. Even the bitter taste of blood in his mouth didn't convince him to believe it.

He tried to move himself to shake him out of his tired state. When his hand touched the ground, he felt something small brush against his finger. He grabbed it out of curiosity and felt every inch of his, determining what it was.

He knew after a second that it was a match, still fresh. Then, the sudden idea smacked into his head. He didn't know why he didn't think of this sooner, but better late then never.

"Mikey?" He called out hoarsely.

"Yeah?"

The sound of his voice made Don feel at ease, but he knew that Mikey was suffering just as much as he was. The strong chill that lurked in the lair was taking its toll on both of them. They weren't able to sleep, weren't able to move without the cold wearing them out.

Don took a sharp breath, "I have an idea, just sit tight buddy."

"Heh," Mikey snickered, "I wasn't planning on going anywhere." He joked, coughing from a dry throat.

Don prepared himself, then clenched his teeth as he pushed himself up, groaning wildly as his muscles ached. They didn't hurt as much as before, the cold must've been relaxing the muscles, which is good. He feels like he could move again without too much pain.  
>Only thing keeping him down is the massive pain in his stomach from lack of food, and the headache that just doesn't seem to want to go away. The pain from his broken arm had died down greatly, which he felt blessed. Maybe, things were starting to look up.<p>

He got to his feet and swayed for a second, allowing his mind to get back into thinking strategically. He took his first step, almost losing balance, but managing to catch himself.

He felt like a kid learning how to walk.

"_Come my son, one step at a time, you can do it._"

He heard Splinter's words in his mind, sounding like he was in the room with him. He gritted his teeth, and took another step. "_That's is, keep going, you almost got it._"

He took another step, he knew that the garage was directly ahead of him, and he knew he had a straight path to get there.

"Donnie?"

"I'm right here Mikey." He said.

The direction of the voice threw Mikey off guard, he looked around quickly, feeling the muscles in his neck strain with every movement. "Where are you going?"

"Garage." Don answered sharply.

"Be careful not to light yourself on fire like I did." Mikey said lightheartedly.

Don chuckled softly as he latched himself onto the doorway and stopped to rest for a second. If he remembered correctly. What he was looking for was in the corner. He stepped inside, jumping back quickly, remembering the Methyl Hydrate that Mikey had spilled earlier.

"Dammit." Don cursed.

He then remembered the spare canister in his lab. He didn't know if he could get to it, but he had to try.

He turned and walked in the dark toward his lab, completely basing his direction on memory. He stepped over what felt like broken glass and continued through the lair. He felt his foot brush against something hard, his curiosity got the best of him and he tapped his foot against it to see what it was.

"Do you mind?" Mikey said out loud.

He smirked as he giggled softly, "Sorry Mike."

"What exactly are you doing?"

"Trying to get to my lab in the dark." Don replied as he pressed on. Tiptoeing through the dark and the debris. "Are you alright?"

"Never better." Don lied.

"I mean, your walking around like nothing."

Don stretched his arm and cringed a bit, "I mean…I still feel like a walking corpse. But I can't just sit around and wait to die can I?"

Mikey snickered, "No I guess not."

Don reached out and grabbed for the wall, he felt around until he came across the doorway to his lab. He looked inside and squinted in the dark, barely able to make out the outlines of the debris and broken rock. He cursed softly and scooted inside.

"Be careful bro." Mikey whispered hoarsely.

Don acknowledged him and felt around for what he was looking for. He prayed that it was not punctured or crushed. Knowing their luck lately, that's probably exactly what happened.

"Come on." He whispered, using all his strength to push smaller rocks out of the way. He felt around for what felt like minutes before accepting the fact that the gasoline canister was buried under the rock and debris. "Dammit." He cursed.

"What?"

Just as he went to respond, another idea popped in his head. "Wait a minute." He said softly, he exited the lab.

"What?!" Mikey said louder.

He ignored his brother and carefully tip toed into the kitchen. He squinted his eyes to try and find what he was looking for. Then he found it, "Yes!" He shouted, bending over near the oven and picking up the bottle of cooking oil.

"Don, you're freaking me out." Mikey claimed from the main room.

Don limped from the kitchen to the bathroom, too focused on his idea to care if he stepped on rocks or wood, or to care about his aching muscles. He staggered into the bathroom and quickly grabbed the roll of toilet paper, breaking the dispenser as he pulled.

"Ok." He said to himself, searching through the darkened lair for a piece of wood. Once he found one of good length and width. He leaned up against the wall and slid to the ground, breathing slowly to calm his headache and severe muscle pain. The dizziness he felt made it hard to concentrate.

After a second of recuperation, he grabbed is stick and the toilet paper. "Donnie, my toe like…really hurts."

"I know Mike," Don said reassuringly, "I'm in a lot of pain too."

"No you don't get it, out of all the injuries I have, that one hurts the most. And it's weird, cause I really don't feel any of my other injuries." He explained as Don wrapped the toilet paper around the end of the stick. "I mean, my arm hurts when I touch it, like a bad sunburn. The bump on my head is just annoying, and that gash on my foot, remember? I think the bandages are rotten, but hey…it's not like it's the end of the world if my bandages are bad."

Don stopped, glancing over at the silhouette he knew what his younger brother, "Mikey…are you alright?"

Mikey was silent for a second, "I feel like a trillion bucks." He said in a voice that worried Don. He sighed, "It's a million bucks Mikey…why are you acting so weird?"

"I don't know man…I think it's cause my toes hurts…and I'm hungry."

Don frowned, then it hit him, "Mikey…you're tired. Try to get some sleep, you'll feel better when you wake up."

"I…I don't want to go to sleep though." Mikey said in a voice unlike his.

Don glanced at him with confusion, "Why not?"

"Cause I'm scared I won't wake up." Mikey said, causing Don's heart to drop. He felt his eyes burn as he set down the stick he had in his hand and crawled over to the silhouette of his baby brother.

He held out his hand and felt it brush against Mikey's arm, causing him to jerk from shock. Without hesitation, Don scooted close to his brother and held him tightly, leaning his head against Mikey's, "You don't have to be scared Mikey," Don whispered, "I won't let that happen."

Mikey buried his face in Don's shoulder, "I don't want to die Donnie."

"You're not going to die." Don felt hard tears run down his face, "I'll do everything I can to keep us alive."

Don had a feeling Mikey wasn't thinking right, but hearing his brother say that, crazy or not, made his heart split into two. He tried to keep it together for Mikey's sake, he didn't need Mikey knowing that Don was suffering because of what he was saying.

After a few minutes of painful silence, he heard soft snores erupt from Mikey. Don pressed his fist against his mouth and bawled, tears streaming down his face as Mikey's voice repeated in his head.

_I don't want to go to sleep._

_I'm scared I won't wake up._

_I don't want to die. _

Don did his best to not wake Mikey as he held him tight once more, never wanting to let go.

Don wasn't stupid, he knew that if they kept like this for a few more days, they would die. No doubt about that. He hated to think it, but he felt like he had given up hope that Leo, Raph, and Splinter would show up to save them.

Sure, Splinter said that they were on their way, but that could mean anything. That could mean their trying to get to the sewers now. But they also had to know that the sewers suffered just as much damage as the lair did. They would have to dig their way to the lair, which could take days.

He hated it. But he knew they were going to die. He just wished it he could make it easier for Mikey.

…..

Don's eyes opened groggily, he took a breath and felt his chest explode in pain, groaning as he coughed softly and shifted. He heard Mikey's distorted breathing next to him, pulling him back into the depressed state he was in before he dozed off.

He didn't exactly know how long he had been asleep, that was one of the bad things about the situation. He didn't know what time it was, didn't know how many day's its been. It had just been continuous darkness for what felt like a lifetime.

He shivered as he moved, he was thankful that the lair wasn't cold enough to do major damage in a short amount of time, but if they didn't do anything for heat soon, they would most likely get hypothermia and make matters worse. He hoped it wouldn't come to that.

He softly leaned Mikey against the wall, careful as to not wake him. He slowly crawled over by the couch, grabbed the large blanket that he had used to warm Mikey while unconscious, and covered Mikey, making it as tight as possible around his body.

"Rest easy Mike." Don whispered softly, then scooted over to where he was previously and grabbed the paper towel and stick. He stuck the stick between his legs, holding it up as he continued to wrap the toilet paper around the end, making the layer as thick as possible without using too much toilet paper.

Once he was certain he was enough. He tore the paper and tucked it underneath the wrapping, making it as tight as he could.

He grabbed the cooking oil and poured it on the toilet paper, making sure that the entire layer was soaked. He screwed the cap back on the cooking oil and grabbed the match he had kept safe. Taking a deep breath, he closed is eyes, "Please…please work." He whispered. With eyes closed, he placed the tip on the brick wall and slid down in a swift motion. Praying in his head, he automatically felt the heat on his hand.

He opened his eyes wide with shock and eagerness, the match was lit with a small, yet powerful flame. He took a deep breath, "Yes!" He whispered in contentment.

He quickly knelt down near the stick and brought the match close to the soaked toilet paper wrapped end. In a second, it erupted in a large flame that forced Don to cover his eyes from the brightness.

He was stunned for a second, actually shocked that he managed the build a fire. He slowly opened his eyes, staring at the fire, as if hypnotized by it's movements. He felt the warmth instantly wash across his face, and for the first time in what felt like forever. Don felt alive.

A sudden thought dropped in his head as he looked beyond the fire and at the lair. His heart sank as he moved the light, getting a look at the entire destruction.

The lair was completely destroyed. There were large chunks of stone laying freely throughout the main room. Broken pieces of wood, glass, and fabric were all over the place. The couch was crushed to a million little bits. The TV shattered, Don was thankful that the electricity went out before the TV was destroyed, or else it might've caused a worse fire.

The moved about the lair, examining every tiny detail about it.

Broken pieces of steel were all over the place, he spotted one of Leo's swords in the dojo. It was bent and the tip was broken. Rotten bits of food were scattered, forcing a awful aroma to linger in the lair, something Don hadn't noticed until he saw the rotten food.

The entire seconds floor had collapsed to the floor, although each of their rooms seemed to be intact. That's when another idea formed inside his head. He glanced over at the dojo, then started making his way inside.

The entrance was blocked by a few rocks, which he pushed out of the way. As he did, he felt himself grow more and more tired and hurt. The rest had helped numb the pain, but it didn't get rid of it.

The headache had began to grow as he stepped inside the dojo, sudden memories of training with his brothers under the authority of his father flooded in his head. He bit his lip as he tried to shake them away and focus on the subject at hand.

He glanced over at the wall where they had kept their equipment. Where all of their weapons used to be placed, now lay scattered and broken on the floor. He waved the torch throughout the dojo , searching for the piece of equipment he needed.

His luck started to take a dramatic turn as he found and grabbed the grappling hook. He quickly staggered outside as he looked back up at the four doorways that lead to each room. He knew off hand that he had nothing of use in his room, and he highly doubted that Mikey would have anything.

But he knew Raph had medicine, and maybe some water. And it couldn't hurt to look in Leo's room.

He frowned, then glared back at Mikey, who was still sound asleep. He knew that trying to climb up into the room would be hard enough on it's own, but to try and take the torch with him would be downright impossible. But it would take away his light for when he gets inside the room.

Without much of a choice, he turned and knelt down next to his brother, he positioned two rather large rocks next to his brothers and squeezed the torch in between them, keeping it upright and next to Mikey.

It gave Don enough light to see what he was doing, but he felt the cold begin to infect his body the farther he moved from the fire. But it made him feel less worried that Mikey was warming up.

He took a deep breath, then launched the hook through the air. It smacked against the bottom of the doorway and crashed into the ground. "Dammit." Don whispered, feeling slightly lightheaded.

He grabbed the hook, got back into position and tossed it again. This time it fell to the ground inside the room. He pulled it back to see if he could latch it onto anything, but as he pulled, it slipped over the edge and fell to the ground.

He groaned and picked it back up, as he stood up again, his head suddenly felt dizzy, causing him to stagger back until his shell smacked against the wall. He slid to the ground as his head rattled dazedly. He clenched his eyes shut and he took deep breaths, feeling each hunger pain increase in agony as he exhaled.

He's over exerting himself, he needed to calm down before he hurts himself even worse. But he also knew that there had to be water in Raph's room.

Once his head felt right again, he carefully pushed himself up once more, hook tight in hand. He glanced up at the doorway leading into Raph's room, took a deep breath, then launched it up in the air. It clattered against the ground in the room, he stopped, knowing he had to be very careful.

He turned to a position to make the hook latch onto the incline of the doorway and began pulling slowly. After a second of anticipation, the hook caught on and kept a steady tug against the doorway.

"Yes." Don whispered, tugging as he tested its durability.

"Alright, moment of truth." He said softly as he moved directly underneath the doorway. He tugged on the rope a few more times, making sure it was absolutely stable.

He reached up and grabbed the rope as high up as he could, then took a deep breath. He knew it was going to hurt, hell he didn't even know if his body would let him take so much pain, but he had to try.

He took deep breaths, then pulled himself up, feeling his arm explode in a fury of pain as he yelped out and quickly reached up with his other arm to grab as high up as he could.

The pain in his arm was intense, making him want to just drop down and give up, but he knew that there was no going back now. But as he hung from the rope above the ground, he realized he could not go any further. The pain in his arm was just too much to handle another pull like that, and if he were to drop down, his feet would surly not be able to handle the pressure and either sprain or break.

As he heaved for breath, he glanced up at the door, It had to have been two more pull ups and he were to make it. His body trembled as he pushed himself to his limits to keep him above the ground.

He had no other choice, he'd rather risk his arm then his legs anyway.

He clenched his teeth, breathing as calmly as he could as he reached up, hands shaking and grabbed the rope. He was careful not to extend it to much, causing more pressure on it.

"Come on." He muttered to himself.

Without thinking, he pulled himself up, wailing as he quickly grabbed the rope with his other arm. Tears were streaming down his face as he reached his arm up once more and without hesitation, pulled himself up, grabbing the highest part of the rope with the other arm.

He hung their limply. His arm was shaking from trauma, he felt nauseous as he glared up.

He was there, all he needed to do was reach up and pull himself into the room. He knew two things could happen as a result of this, his arm would actually let him pull up and he will make it. Or his arm would completely give out as he pulled and send him falling to the ground, which could do even more damage.

An agonizing pain lingered in his stomach as he fought back the urge to vomit. He used what strength he had left to reach up and grip the edge of the doorway.

He breathed deeply, anticipating pain.

"Come on Don, just do it." He whispered with eyes closed. "Just do it, just do it." He repeated continuously.

With one last effort, he let go of the rope, hanging on the doorway with his bad arm for a split second before he reached up and gripped the edge with his other arm. The split second was enough to bring tears to Don's eyes as he hung on the doorway, wanting nothing more then to just let go and fall.

His main fear was that he would lose permanent function of his arm after this, breaking it was bad enough, but the time from when Mikey had set it to now was not enough time for it to heal to the point of dealing with this pressure.

His arm slowly started to grow more numb as he hung, he knew he didn't have much time, he needed to act fast. Just pull up, one more time, then you'll never have to do it again.

But the fear of dropping right when he tried was enough to make him hesitate, but then the thought of his arm giving out as he hung was enough to make him was to get it over with.

After a mini argument with himself, he clenched his teeth as tightly as he could, eyes clenched shut, breathing rapid, he pulled up.

His arm felt as if the bone broke off from the joint as he pulled, he threw his agonizing arm out into the room, giving his other arm more leverage as he swung his leg up and pulled himself the rest of the way into the room.

He collapsed on the ground, sweat and tears trailing down his face, chest heaving as his arm lay limp next to him. He prayed that it was just overexerted and not damaged beyond repair, but in honesty, he didn't care about his arm.

The only thing he cared about was that he actually managed to make it into Raph's room.

After lying on the floor for what felt like hours, he pushed himself up and sat there, staring at the wall, holding his trembling arm. He managed to get to his feet as he staggered forward, getting a look at Raph's room.

Miraculously, the bed was unharmed. Without thinking, he grabbed the mattress and pulled it from the frame and onto the floor. With little strength left, he pushed the mattress toward the doorway and pushed it out into the main room, sending it falling to the ground, tossing any blanket and pillows he found along with it.

He slumped down on the frame, catching his breath, feeling as if he was going to faint in any second.

Now that he got a look at the room, it seemed as if Raph's room suffered little to no damage. There were broken bits of rock here and there, but nothing to severe. Except for the one large piece of rock that had fallen and crashing into the wall between Raph's and Leo's room, creating a hole big enough for Don to walk through.

He slowly stood to his feet as he staggered into Leo's room. His heart instantly skipped a beat as he glared at the beautiful piece of metal beneath his desk. "Oh my god." He said softly, quickly grabbing the flashlight and fumbled with it, looking for a switch.

Once he found it, he flipped it on and the bring light burst from the small bulb within the flashlight. Don squinted, the light was too intense for what he's use to.

But once his eyes adjusted, he saw something that made his jaw drop in Raph's room.

A small, six pack of bottled water.


	18. Chapter 18

**_I know i know! It's been awhile, sorry to keep you guys waiting like this. While working on this chapter my laptop decided to die on me. Luckily i had another copy of this chapter in my email. But there is bad news, i was about half way done with I'll let you live's next chapter, and sadly i did not have a copy of that one. So i will have to rewrite that one. But it's alright, last chapter of that story, i want to make it as perfect as possible. So anyway enough rambling, 2 more chapters after this one. And then it all comes to an end :). _**

**_Again, i cannot express enough gratitude to Amonraphionex and DarkUnderworld for making this story what it is and making it good enough for you all to keep coming back. Thank you guys. _**

**_Enjoy._**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter 18<span>

Casey stared at the cup of coffee he held in his hands with an empty heart. He watched as the small blotch of creamer swirled around and bounced off the sides of the mug. He sighed, wondering if Leo and Raph made it to the city yet. The sun hasn't been out for a while, and he doesn't foresee the snow melting anytime soon. He wanted to get out there and help them, but at this point its too late. His truck wasn't going anywhere for a long time.

He sighed as he slurped his coffee, April was in the next room with Splinter. No one can really tell how he's doing, Don's the only one with any medical knowledge. April knows a little bit, but not enough. All they can do now is just wait.

"Casey?" April called out. He dropped whatever he was thinking about and looked up, "Yeah?" He shouted.

April walked into the kitchen holding a worried look on her face, she frowned, "Just checking to see if you're okay."

Casey faintly smiled and nodded, "Yeah, just worried is all."

She sighed, "Yeah, me too."

She walked out and left Casey alone once again. The silence in the farmhouse was unsettling, there wasn't much to do given the circumstances. Usually a time like this, Casey would go out and do some yard work, but the 8 inches of snow on the ground made that a bit difficult. He groaned agitatedly, grabbed his cup of coffee and poured what was left in the sink. He then went into the fridge and grabbed himself a bottle of beer. As he twisted the cap off, he slowly walked into the foyer, staring out into the snowy wonderland outside, hoping to god Leo and Raph made it through to the city.

"Since when do you drink?" April asked from the living room as she folded up a blanket.

"Only on special occasions." Casey answered without taking his eyes off of the snow.

April huffed, "This is a special occasion?"

He sighed and took a swig of alcohol, "It's an occasion I'd like to not think about too much," He said as he sipped the beer once more, "Or else i'd just go insane."

April sighed, she set the blanket on the couch and walked up to Casey, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug, "You're talking about Leonardo and Raphael here, two of the strongest sons of a bitch i've ever known. They can do this, i know they can."

Casey nodded and took another drink from the bottle, "I know...i just wish there was something i can do to help. Instead of just sitting here drinking."

After finishing his thought, as if like clockwork, he could hear a sort of strange roar from outside. His curiosity spiked as he walked closer to the window and looked outside. He saw two older kids riding around the forest with thier snowmobiles, laughing and trying to dodge the trees as they zoomed past.

Casey's heart dropped as the bottle fell through his fingers, "Oh my god."

Without another word, Casey ran from the foyer to the closet, snatching his winter coat and boots. "Whoa! What are you doing?" April asked bewildered by his sudden outburst.

"I'm going to help Leo and Raph." He said as he frantically put on his boots and gloves. After throwing on his coat, he ran for the door and looked at April, "I'll call you once we make it to the city. Stay here and watch after Splinter. We'll be back." Casey said. Without giving April a chance to retort, he slammed the door close and took off into the forest to catch the kids.

They weren't too far in, just enough to see from the edge of the forest. They didn't seem to be going in any further as well, luckily for Casey.

"Hey!" Casey yelled, waving his arms over his head. Niether of the kids seemed to have heard him. He cursed under his breath and tried his best to run in the snow without falling. One of the kids stopped for a second and watched his friend. Casey saw his opprotunity and ran for the kid, "Hey!" He shouted.

The kid turned and looked at Casey, eyeing him with curiosity and slight annoyance. Casey stopped in front of the kid and caught his breath, "Listen kid, i need your help."

The kid scoffed, "With what?"

The other kid noticed the confrentation and turned his snowmobile and rode toward Casey. "Bear with me, i need your snowmobile!" He said.

The kid laughed, "Are you crazy? Hell no, get your own!"

Casey's anger rose out of no where as he sighed, "Kid, theres an emergency and i need to get to the city like...right now. My truck can't make it through this snow. Just let me use it and i will give it back i swear."

The kid looked at Casey keenly, thinking. "What would you do for me?"

Casey thought about it, "I don't know...how about fourty bucks?"

"One hundred."

"Are you serious?" Casey shouted.

"Do you want it or not?"

Casey groaned angerily and dug for his wallet, pulling out five 20s and giving it to the kid, "Here you little criminal." The kid snickered and snatched the money from Casey's hand, then stepped off the snowmobile. Casey quickly got on and shot the kid a smile, "Thanks kid." He said, then pressed on the accelerator and took off through the woods away from the kids.

He maneuvered out of the forest and rode down the main road leading to the city. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed the set of foot prints in the snow. He took a nervous breath and sped up, keeping parallel to the foot prints. There was an unexplainable feeling in his gut that told him that something was wrong. He couldn't know why, but given the time they left, they should've gotten to the city already, but Casey couldn't know for sure.

He felt a bit bad for leaving April the way he did, leaving her to care for Splinter all by herself. But once Casey saw the kids on the snowmobile, he had to take the chance. It's a way for them to get into the city if they haven't already, plus an easy way to get out. Bad thing is, once they get to the city, they'd have to ditch the snowmobile. He decided to worry about that when it comes.

If Leo and Raph had only waited a few more hours, Casey could've possibly bargained the kids for both snowmobiles. Giving Leo and Raph an easier trip. But there was no stopping them, they were determined to get their brother back and nothing was going to stop them. Casey didn't have the heart to tell them that their determination could possibly get them killed.

Casey shivered as the brisk cold wind hit his face as he rode at the maximum speed of the snowmobile. He kept an eye on the snow tracks, luckily they had been keeping a constant direction, but the more he drove on, the more it seemed that the foot prints were no longer foot shaped, which is a weird thought. They looked as though Leo and Raph either ran, or dragged something with them. Casey coudln't be sure.

His thoughts faded as something up in the distance caught his attention. He looked back down at the footprints, then back up. He slowed down the snowmobile at the edge of a river. He had had countless memories of fishing here when he was a kid, but he had no time to dwell on such memories. The only thing he was worried about right now was the fact that Leo's and Raphs foot prints lead right into the frozen river.

"You guys walked out on the ice?!" Casey shouted to himself, sighing softly. The bridge was only 2 miles down the river, but knowing Leo and his stubborn attitude, they probably crossed not wanting to waste time. Casey got off the snowmobile and approched the ice caustiosly. It seemed thick, maybe enought for him to cross with the snowmobile. He thought about it quickly, then decided to give it a shot.

He got back on the snowmobile, then slowly started driving onto the ice. So far it seemed to hold him without resistance. Casey slowly accelerated the more comfortable he had gotten. Once he knew the ice would hold, he started scanning the icy river, trying to find the slight indication of where the turtles went.

His heart dropped when he saw a hole in the icy before him. He turned away from it and stopped the snowmobile, staring at the hole. Could one of the turtles have fallen in? Part of him wanted to continue scanning the ice, but he knew that if one of them had fallen in, the other would've had to pulled them out instantly. In that case, one of them, if not both, are soaking wet in the cold.

"Shit." Casey muttered. He quickly started the snowmobile back up and drove through the rest of the ice without issue. Once he made it back on the other side, he accelerated the snowmobile to it's full extent, surveying the distance to see if he could possibly see Leo or Raph.

After minutes of driving, he saw the city in the distant, hoping more and more that they did indeed make it. But he couldn't give up looking. He accelerated the snowmobile and manuvered past a couple trees. Something caught his eyes, he looked and saw was looked like two dark piles in the snow.

HIs heart hit the lowest part of his stomach as he turned the snowmobile and drove toward it. It became clearer and clearer the closer it got that the two piles were indeed Leonardo and Raphael.

"Oh shit!" He shouted, slamming on the breaks and slidding to a stop near Leo. "Shit shit shit shit." He repeated as he quickly got off the snowmobile and tumbled to the ground near Leo. "Leo!" He shouted, getting to his knees and examining the turtle. As he examined, he saw that Leo's eyes were wide open, staring at nothing. "Leo?" He said softly. There was no response. He touched the skin on his face, it was like touching the surface of an ice cube.

Fearing the worst, Casey studied Leo even closer, realizing that he was infact still alive and breathing. He breathed a sigh of relief, then looked back at Raph. He stumbled over to his best friend and looked him over, feeling overwhelmed. "Damn, Raph."

He was in far worse shape than Leo is, he had a thin layer of ice covering the mask on his face. Frostbite was forming on his cheeks and his breaths were uneven. He could tell just by looking at him that he was the one who fell into the river. "Of course it was your fat ass that fell into the water."

A gasp from behind him made Casey jump and twirl around, spotting Leo, sat up with eyes wide open and gasping for air. "Leo!" Casey shouted, moving next to him, "Leo? Are you alright?"

Leo quickly looked around, breathing heavily, "Where is Splinter?"

Casey was taken aback by the question, "What? Splinter is back at the farmhouse."

Leo faced Casey, trying to make sense of everything, "Cas-…Splinter…What?" He stuttered, "What are you doing here? What happened? Where's sensei?"

Casey quickly placed a hand on Leo's shoulder to calm him, "Leo I need you to calm down. I came here to help you, Splinter is back at the farmhouse. We need to get you and Raph back to the farmhouse."

"No!" Leo said out loud, grabbing Casey's bicep, "We can't! Casey, we're so close. We need to get Mikey."

Casey glared at Leo with sympathy, he knew that they were really close to saving Mikey, but at the same time they weren't going to make it in this condition. Casey hated to do this, but it needed to be done. "Leo...listen to me. Raph is barely breathing, and you are close to passing out. It's only getting colder, and you still have to clear the rubble before you can save Mikey." Casey said, then looked back at Raph, he sighed, walking toward him. "Listen, you're right. You are to close to turn back now. Help me get Raph on the snowmobile. Then you and Raph get back to Aprils, i'll go myself."

"Casey, i can't ask you to do that." Leo muttered.

"You don't have to." Casey said as thier eyes connected, "I'll be fine Leo. Mikey needs us."

Leo knew that Casey could do it, but the thought of putting him in danger was enough to drive him mad. There was no talking him out of this, and Leo knew this. "Thank you..." He said softly.

Casey glanced back at Leo and nodded, "Don't mention it, now lets get you two out of here." he said, half expecting to hear Leo talk again about how grateful he was for Casey's bravery or such. Instead he heard a sharp gasp come from Leo, followed by a whisper.

"Oh no."

Before Casey could question, he heard a chuckle behind him with a sound of a bat taping against a hand. He turned around and felt his stomach lurch at the sight of two purple dragons before them, dressed in heavy winter clothes and wielding steel bats. The one on the left smiled, revealing a missing tooth. He had a neck tattoo that was barely visable behind the scarf he was wearing. "Well…if it isn't the famous Casey Jones." The purple dragon snickered.

The one on the right circled around the three of them and eyed the turtles, "Looks like we hit the jackpot."

"You know…we was on our way to that farm of yours. Got a tip from one of our boys that that's where you're hold up."

Casey looked back at the snowmobile, "Ah shit," He whispered.

"But this is much better." He said with a smile.

The purple dragon rested his bat against his shoulder as he approached Casey, "Looks like someone left home with their precious mask and hockey stick huh? Shame…I was hoping for a challenge."

"Who says you aren't going to get one?" Casey grunted, eyeing the purple dragon with disgust.

The purple dragon scoffed, "I'd like to see that."

They stood in silence for a minute, eyes staring into one another. The other purple dragon knelt down in front of Leo, "Shouldn't you two be in hibernation or something?"

Leo glared in anger at him, "You wish." He growled.

"Next time," The purple dragon placed the bat against Leo's skull, "Stay in hibernation."

Leo felt the wood tap his head, he knew he was in no condition to fight. But he had to give it his all. With a swift movement of his hand, he chopped the purple dragon in the throat.

The other purple dragon took his bat and went to slam it against Casey's leg. Casey moved his arm as quick as he could and managed to catch the bat in his palm, feeling a sharp pain shoot up his arm, but he ignored it and pulled the bat and the thug close enough to head butt him. The thug staggered back and Casey drove his foot into the thugs' stomach.

As he fell back, Casey turned around and saw the other thug recover from Leo's attack and walk up to Leo with the bat firmly in hand. "Leo!" Casey shouted. Before he could intervene, the thug swung his bat at Leo and smacked him hard in the jaw with the steel bat. Leo's head flung back and he fell into the snow. "Shit." Casey shouted, he ran for the thug and tackled him to the ground. As the bat flew out of the thugs hand, Casey pinned his arms down and wrapped his hands firmly around the purple dragons neck, squeezing with all the strength he could muster.

"You son of a bitch." Casey grunted as he dug his fingers into his skin.

All of a sudden, Casey felt the hard steel bat connect with his back. He hollered and rolled off the thug. "You think you can overpower us like that? You son of a bitch." The purple dragon growled, spitting on Casey as he rolled on the snow, trying to lessen the pain of the forming bruise.

The purple dragon picked up his bat and walked up to Casey, revving up for a fatal blow. "Do it already!" The purple dragon shouted as he caught his breath.

Casey felt his heart hammer as the purple dragon readied his bat. After that everything went in slow motion, the only thing Casey could really understand was what sounded like a beast roaring and the sight of the purple dragon being undertaken by what looked like a large animal.

Casey watched in horror as the large beast held the purple dragon down into the snow and chomped down with it's large teeth into the thugs body. Blood flooded out of the thug as he screamed and shouted in agony. The beast picked him up by the head and slammed him into the ground until his convulsions stopped.

The other purple dragon watched as the beast picked his dead friend up and threw him away into the snow. The beast whirled around and faced him, the thug made a scared yelp and tried to get away, but the beast was fast and was on him in a second.

It wrapped his large hand around the thug and held him up in the air, squeezing his head brutally like a pimple. Casey turned and looked at Leo who was watching in shock.

After a few second, the screams from the purple dragon went silent. The beast dropped the thug and stood there for a second, facing away from Leo and Casey. Things were quiet, but then Casey heard the beast sigh, "I'm sorry if I have frightened you," The beast said, then turned around, "But I heard you guys needed my help."

Leatherhead stood in front of Casey and Leo, wiping the blood from his hand on his coat. Leo stared at Leatherhead in shock, "LH? What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I'll explain later, right now we need to get you two back to my place. It's warm, I can tend to your guys wounds. I have food and water."

Casey felt as though a wave of relief washed over him as he chuckled, "Thank god." He said, slowly getting to his feet. "How far away are we from your place?" Casey asked.

"There is an water waste treatment plant close by. No one is there, and we can get into the tunnels from there. All round about ten minutes."

"Good, we need to hurry. Raph isn't doing so well." Casey said.

Leatherhead approached Raph and scooped him up, holding him close to his chest, "I'll take Raphael. Leonardo, are you alright to walk?"

"I think I can manage." Leo said as he struggled to get to his feet. "Here," Casey said, taking Leo's arm and wrapping it around his shoulders, "Lean on me." Leo nodded and put most of his weight on Casey. "Thank you." He whispered.

"Don't mention it." Casey smiled.

"Let us move forward." Leatherhead stated as he started walking. Leo struggled to keep the pace with Casey, but he knew that he just needed to push alittle further. Becasue he was certain that they would be reunited with their little brother very soon.


End file.
